Half the Power, Twice the Spirit
by Zephyri Magia
Summary: AU. Halflings—half human, half dragon spirit—are despised throughout the Empire of the Celestial Dragons. But the land is dying; and so Prince Kygo sets out to gather the twelve halflings to perform the Spirit Dance and save the land from its slow death.
1. Bound by Dragons in the Sky

_Author's Note:_ So this is my first _Eon: Dragoneye Reborn/Eona: Last Dragoneye _fanfic, and to be honest, I didn't really like the way Goodman ended _Eona_. I can see why it was meant to go that way, but that doesn't mean I like it. And then, randomly, I got _this _idea. So here I am, throwing all caution to the wind and tossing this story out there for people to read. Read it, let it sink in, and then, if you could take the time, tell me what you think. Is this even a good idea at all? I think this might be the first AU in this category, but I'm not entirely sure. I'd like to know if this story's worth continuing.

Also—I changed up a bunch of the character's ages. Most of them are all relatively the same age now, at least, the halflings and Kygo are—I'd say maybe fourteen? Since we didn't get much character development for the ten other Dragoneyes, I'll be making up a sort of personality for them when we get to them, but this story will mostly focus on the three main characters—namely, Kygo, Ido, and Eona.

EDIT: I realize I forgot this part: _Disclaimer_—I do not own _Eon/Eona_, Alison Goodman does. Obviously I'm not her; otherwise I wouldn't be writing fanfiction on this site, I'd be making this a reality. Since I don't want to say this multiple times over in increasingly different ways, this disclaimer will go for the whole story.

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part One: Bound by Dragons in the Sky_

He could feel the land dying.

Prince Kygo stepped away from the window, knowing he'd see what he'd seen before—the soil beginning to turn black and crumbling away into dust beneath the fierce winds; the rivers clotting with mud and stones. While mud was good for growing, it was hard to find a seed that would grow. Some plants could still grow—but no one knew how long they would last, and people hoarded what little they had with bitter fierceness.

"_Methinks we displeased the spirit beasts_."

Kygo whirled at the familiar voice and spied his father walking into the room. "Father." He bowed low, stepping aside as the Emperor moved to the window, staring out across the Empire.

"Yes," the old man murmured, rheumy eyes blinking at the slow death of the land he was supposed to protect, "yes, we have offended the spirits somehow."

Kygo lifted his head to stare up at the ceiling. If he looked hard enough, and was calm enough, sometimes he could catch glimpses of the land's protectors, the twelve great spirit beasts, the Dragons of Good Fortune. He focused, and their blurry images flickered into his sight, each at their compass point.

At the north, the purple Ox Dragon; the north-northeast, the green Tiger Dragon; the east-northeast, the pink Rabbit Dragon; in the east, the red Dragon Dragon or Mirror Dragon, the only female; the east-southeast, the copper Snake Dragon; the south-southeast, the orange Horse Dragon; at the south, the silver Goat Dragon; the south-southwest, the ebony-black Monkey Dragon; the west-southwest, the brown Rooster Dragon; in the west, the ivory-white Dog Dragon; the west-northwest the dove-gray Pig Dragon; and in the north-northwest, the blue Rat Dragon.

The effort of holding them in his mind's eye grew too great and they slipped away. Usually, if he focused on one, he might be able to bring it into focus—but more often than not, he was staring at fuzzy, shifting images that seemed more like blots of paint on parchment than dragons.

Kygo was drawn back to reality when his father murmured, "Perhaps they withhold their life-giving energy because of the mistreatment of their children."

"The halflings?" Kygo blinked once in surprise. Halflings were an odd race—the product of a union between human and spirit beast, one for each dragon. There were only ever twelve at a time, or less, as far as Kygo knew. Each displayed the animalistic traits of the name of the dragon they descended from—for example, a Goat halfling might have a goat's horns and tail, or a Monkey halfling, a monkey's tail and ears. "Why would you say they are mistreated?"

His father laughed dryly, a rumbling chuckle that wheezed at the tail end. "Don't act as if you haven't seen it before. There are few people who truly care for the halflings. Most see them as cursed, or envy them their dragon power. Not many can see the human side a halfling possesses; all see the dragon spirit in them."

"Do you believe them cursed?" Kygo whispered, not daring to meet his father's eyes. The Emperor turned; Kygo could hear the sound of his slippers sliding over the floor, the swish of his robes.

"No, my son," he sighed, "halflings are simply born with a power we do not quite understand." Kygo's father stopped beside him. "Look at me, son."

Kygo lifted his head, meeting the Emperor's dark eyes. "I understand you may have a different opinion of the halflings—but there is something I must ask of you, and, for the good of the Empire, I bid that you do it."

"What is it you wish of me?"

His father's eyes flashed towards the window. "I know you have felt this land slowly fading away. Perhaps—perhaps if you gathered the halflings together, and guided them in the Spirit Dance—perhaps the dragons would see fit to return the lifeblood to the earth."

Kygo was silent for a moment. "Do you believe this will truly work, Father?"

The Emperor was still, too, for a long second, folding his hands together. "I hope it will," he said at last, letting out a great sigh. "It is all I can think of to convince the dragons."

Kygo bowed low. "Then I will do it, Father."

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><p>He could smell it from here. Ido crouched low, hidden behind the vendor's stall, eyeing the tier of thin apples piled on top. He hadn't tasted apples in…a long time. Useless trying to count the months. His ears flattened against his head as he reached out his hand, claws poised to grab—<p>

"Get your dirty paws off those apples, urchin!"

Ido leaped away from the vendor's cry, managing to snag an apple on his leap right over the stall. He hit the ground running, weaving amongst the crowd, blocking out their cries of disgust at his appearance.

He bit into the apple, savoring the taste, even if it wasn't quite like he remembered, the land hadn't been as bad off way back when, so even having it taste something like normal was a pleasant surprise. Dodging into an alley, he took a flying leap and clambered up some rotting boxes, making it to the rooftops in a matter of moments.

He settled back against the solid stone, safe in the knowledge that few could find him here—only the ones who wished to seek him out knew where to find him; and even though he was a fairly good thief, most refused to have anything to do with him, all because of something he couldn't control.

He clenched his fist around the remains of the apple, letting the pieces fall from his fingers, the claws tipping each fingertip not the most unusual part of him—no; he had to say it was the ears and the tail. The slim, oval rat's ears and long hairless rat tail, while indeed good for balance, earned him no allies.

No one wanted to be near a halfling.

_Rat_. He lifted his head to the sky, squinting, almost like a rat, staring up into the sky until he saw the world shift, the blue sky dotted with dirty gray and white clouds melding into an array of colors, and the bright jeweled colors of the twelve spirit beasts. His gaze unconsciously sought out the north-northwest corner, to the blue dragon whose animal traits he bore, whom he was descended from.

The Rat Dragon.

"Why?" he wanted to yell at the sky, but something told him the dragon would not answer. He jumped when the beast moved; when looking at them in the sky it was almost too easy to forget that the spirit beasts were real, and, occasionally, tangible on the earthly plane.

Ido could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as the Rat Dragon's depthless eyes settled on him, vibrant blue sapphires more beautiful than any gem found in the land. The blue dragon stretched out his neck, pearl beneath his chin pulsing with life-energy, with _Hua_.

And then suddenly, as the beast's head pulled away, Ido felt the oddest sensation—as if he were suddenly in two places at once—before he felt something flow through him—a wave of blue _Hua_ and he was flying, soaring high above the earth, his physical body dwindling to little more than a speck in the eyes of a dragon.

_What's going on? _he yelled out, surprised to find his voice did not come from his mouth as he'd thought, but from his mind.

The Rat Dragon's opal claws stretched out in front of him, and the blue dragon bent his head, studying Ido. His pearl lightly touched the boy's forehead, and through the rush of blue _Hua _Ido heard the words.

_Find the others._

_Others? _For a moment Ido was floundering for a response. Suddenly it hit him. _The other halflings?_

The Rat Dragon snorted, sending a plume of vanilla-tinged breath over Ido. The words came again. _Find the others. _Abruptly Ido's vision swam with a collage of jewel colors—the other twelve dragons! And the biggest point of color, the Mirror Dragon, the only female, the queen, twice as big as the male dragons, her body overflowing with golden _Hua_.

Ido stared at her, struck speechless, for she had to be the most beautiful thing he had ever encountered. She stretched out her head, bright crimson eyes pinning him in place, not that the Rat Dragon wasn't already holding him there. Now it was the Mirror Dragon's turn to touch him with her pearl; and as she did so it dredged up a long-forgotten memory—the smell of cinnamon. He hadn't smelled it, _tasted _it, since before he was maybe…three years old?

It was before his ears and tail were extremely noticeable, and he was still able to beg something off of people. Once, someone had given him a cinnamon bun, still warm. Ido had never before (or since then, truly) tasted anything so delicious.

He wondered, briefly, if the dragon picked the scent she gave out, to comfort him in some way—but no, a dragon could smell however they liked, he imagined it was just a coincidence. The red dragon's golden pearl brushed against his hair, and for a moment he felt its heavy weight settle on him, bringing with it the faintest _Hua _and, as with the Rat Dragon, the words of the dragon queen.

_Find them, Rat, through the power of your _Hua_. Be marked, so that you may know them from all others. _Before Ido had time to process the weight of her words, golden energy poured through him, sending him spinning through the sky, plunging back towards his body and away from the twelve dragons—

—and before he was opening his eyes to stare up at the blue sky once more, he could have sworn he saw a wide range of eleven glowing lights of _Hua_, each the color of one of the dragons.

_The others!_

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><p>She often got the feeling the sky was watching her.<p>

Well, she amended, not exactly the sky—rather, the _dragons _in the sky.

Not everyone could see them—in fact, she was the only one in her village that she knew of, who could see them. Of course, everyone knew they were there, and no one dared call her crazy.

Because she was stronger than any other halfling, simply because she was descended from the Mirror Dragon—the queen of the dragons, twice as powerful as the smaller male dragons, and that made _her_—born with half the Mirror Dragon's power—just as powerful as any one of the male dragons. She could be a thirteenth dragon, she supposed, except that thirteen was not a very auspicious number. Twelve was very auspicious, and she thought she might just leave the dragons to their own—she was not full dragon anyhow.

Eona reached up, knowing exactly what her hand would fall on—a dragon's curled horns. Behind her, a dragon's tail swept out, spraying sand from the dirt path, and—the part of her dragon appearance that she valued the most—the wings.

Too small to fly much yet, but growing, growing fast—soon, she knew, she would be able to soar above the clouds—maybe even fly _with the dragons_!

"Eona!"

Eona turned at the sound of her mother's voice. Her mother—the only one of the village who truly loved her; the others tolerated her only because of her dragon power.

"Mother," she smiled. Lillia's face folded into an identical smile. "Daughter," she murmured, "did you visit the beach today?" Truly, Lillia was not her true mother, but she had cared for Eona since the latter was a baby, and so Eona considered her something of a mother, and Lillia in turn thought of the Dragon halfling as her daughter.

Eona's smile grew. "Oh yes, I found some shells you can sell, if we need the money." She picked up her satchel, pulling out a few of the nicer shells she had discovered in their beach's fine sand.

Technically, the beach wasn't t_heir _beach, but as no one else would dare trespass upon it for fear of meeting the Dragon halfling, rumored to be most powerful of all the strange halflings, it had more or less become theirs. And almost every day Eona combed the beach, searching for intricate shells or debris washed onto the beach—some would garner at least a few coins.

"Very nice," her mother praised, selecting a large scalloped shell, pearly edges catching the light and refracting into a spray of rainbow colors.

_Pearl_.

Something jerked Eona's gaze upwards, and almost instantly the Dragons of Good Fortune filtered into her sight, their great bodies bigger than any building she had ever seen. She took a step forwards, an awed smile crossing her face, before she was running, running up the winding path to the cliff that bordered their beach.

"Eona?" Her mother's voice echoed after her, and she called back, "Trust me!"

And the Dragon halfling was gone again, feet kicking up fine sand, running along the path that led to the top of the cliff, a chunk of stone with a thin layer of sparse grass growing across it. Eona dug her feet into the grass, knowing she might not see it much longer—the sickness that had taken the land into its grip would soon spread here, her dragon senses told her so.

She lifted her head, staring up at the blazing glory of the Circle of Twelve, their bodies glowing with _Hua_, so different from the dying Empire. Without realizing it she had stretched out her arms to them, wishing they would look to her.

And one did.

The red bulk of the Mirror Dragon turned, ancient eyes finding the lonely halfling standing atop the cliff. The dragon queen's eyes seemed to say to Eona, _You are mine_.

Eona felt the wings at her back twitch, for the first time displaying an ability to move on their own. They shot open, longer than Eona was tall, the membranes stretched between the spines turned a glowing pink, the red veins between them like drips of blood.

In the red dragon's gaze Eona saw a word:

_Come._

In her heart she felt something respond to the dragon's call: _I will come! _Then she was plunging forwards, straight for the edge of the cliff, her wings stretched out behind her; and she was heedless of any danger. All she saw were the Mirror Dragon's eyes, and her call ringing in the halfling's ears.

Her feet found the edge of the cliff—she didn't hesitate.

Eona leaped.


	2. Drawn Together by Dragon's Power

_Author's Note: _It's good to know _someone_'s reading this story, besides me anyways, as I have a terrible paranoia and have to make sure that it hasn't disappeared on me. (Sad, I realize that, but I don't have much of a life, so surely you can begrudge me my paranoia) Enough about me and my problems, you want to read the story.

This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer—_dragongirl423_. Thanks very much, it's always good to know that there's someone out there who wants to read my stories. If you've got anything you'd like me to review for you in return I'd be glad to help, just tell me in a PM or a review!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Two: Drawn Together by Dragon's Power_

Kygo stared up at the lights of the Imperial Palace. He'd never left the palace before—but his father had asked of him this quest, and it was his duty to make sure the land survived. What was a ruler without the people and the land?

His father's words echoed in his mind: _"Make your peace with the beasts. They are the protectors of the Empire, and if you cannot convince them to bring back the earth's _Hua_, then the Empire will soon be nothing more than a memory in their eyes."_

Kygo had asked of the dragon's power. _"Are they not as tied to the land as we are? Surely if the land dies, so will they?" _But he had been able to hear his own disbelief—whenever he had gazed upon the dragons, even as far away moving spots of color, he had felt their power, their _Hua _like a thickness in the air—they had seemed so _strong_. Certainly they could survive the death of the land!

He nudged his horse into the throng of people going away from the palace and into the city. His father had said that there was secrecy in traveling incognito; riding around with an escort of armed guards would give him away—and scare away any of the halflings he happened across.

And, in his defense, Kygo wasn't helpless. He had been trained in the art of self-defense since before he was four—"Even in a peaceful nation," his father had said, "there could be someone who wants you dead."

So Kygo had taken the lessons.

And now, despite his size, he could take down an armed man twice his size. For the first time, he was grateful for the lessons; in the palace, with all the walls and guards, the self-defense training had seemed only a simple pastime, nothing more. But as he rode into the city, Kygo could see where it could come in handy—around every corner there seemed to be someone arguing over food.

Kygo guided his horse carefully around the thick knots of people trudging this way and that. He felt despair welling up in him—how could he find the halflings when there were so many people? And this was the Imperial City! What if there were some halflings in the forests or mountains, hiding away? How was he to know where they all where?

As luck would have it—or perhaps the dragons had guided him unconsciously—the way to the halflings would find his way to the Prince Heir.

Given time, of course.

Kygo sighed, tugged irritably at the scarf wrapped over the lower portion of his face to conceal his appearance from those who might wish to kill him, and waited for the people in front of him to move along. Some seemed to be refugees, forging to the Imperial City so they might be able to get some handouts. After all, nobles had the money to pay for the better food, unlike whatever the refugees could find along the roadside that was rotting or dying.

He looked up to the sky, where the gray clouds promised no rain. He had the sudden urge to reach down, to pick up a clod of dirt and see if it dissolved in his hand, like everyone said. But he kept in the saddle, telling himself he could do that outside the city.

He glanced back up to the dry clouds, taking a calming breath and focusing. Slowly, the dragons shimmered into his sight. They were all lined up with their compass point—if he ever got lost while on the road, they would be a useful compass, as they rarely moved from their celestial domains.

Then, suddenly, eleven of the dragons receded from his mind's eye and the blue Rat Dragon loomed in his vision, sapphire eyes narrowed, opal claws stretched out towards Kygo. The prince froze, locked in that ancient gaze as the dragon threw back his head, howling, a soundless noise that made the earth at Kygo's horse's hooves tremble.

He might not have the connection the halflings did to the dragon spirits, but Kygo thought he knew what the Rat Dragon was telling him—a message. _The Rat halfling was near._

He urged his horse forwards, eyes scanning the masses of people flowing past him. He tried to pick out anyone who might have the traits of the animal the Rat Dragon embodied; but all he could see were perfectly normal humans. Frustrated, he gritted his teeth, gripping the reins.

He didn't see the shadow darting between the people—didn't know it was there until it fell before his horse, tripping over an upturned stone.

All he felt was the movement of his horse rearing up onto two legs, and the flash of frantic fearful eyes beneath the horse's hooves, trying to scramble away in time.

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><p>Ido stared out at the flood of people coming into the Imperial City from atop the roofs. He knew most of the refugees wouldn't have an awful lot of food with them, but it was worth a try to see if he could pick up anything. His stomach growled loudly, reminding him of a fact he already knew—he was hungry.<p>

He silently dove from his rooftop down to the alley below, slipping out into the crowd. For a moment he thought of the dragons, of how they had confronted him, told him to find the others. But when he'd glimpsed the others' _Hua_, he had seen that they weren't near the Imperial City.

Which meant he had to venture out into _uncertain doom_ to find them.

He wasn't too keen on that, but if he didn't do it—he didn't know what the dragons would do to him. Maybe smite him, by sending down a bolt of lightning from the heavens and striking him down.

That didn't sound like the most pleasant death ever.

For an instant he slipped into mind-sight—which confirmed that none of the others were in the area. He could sense their presences at the back of his mind, calling to him.

Curse that dragon magic. It'd drive him insane one day.

Hunger called again and he moved the problem of the other halflings' gathering to the back of his mind, darting along through the masses, trying to find any food.

Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. There was nothing to pick over, nothing that wasn't already trampled and worn into a pulp—nothing, no food for him to eat, no water skins dropped somewhere along the way. These people were smart—probably had to deal with others trying to filch their food away at all times. His stomach growled again, and he foraged onwards.

He didn't see the rock until he'd tripped over it—

—right into the path of an oncoming horse. Ido scrabbled backwards as the horse rose onto its back legs, deadly hooves striking at the air before it. The Rat halfling managed to roll away from the horse's hooves coming down, touching the ground only a hair's breadth away from him.

Ido took a shuddering breath, reminding himself that he was alive. Alive was good. Very good—in fact, he preferred to _stay_ alive, thank you very much.

The rider of the horse peered down at Ido, as if ascertaining that he was unharmed. "You are the Rat halfling." It wasn't a question; and the voice sounded as if it were used to being obeyed.

Ido squared his shoulders and stared up at the rider, ears flattened, his tail swishing behind him. "What's it to you?" It was, he had to admit, surprising that the rider—a male, from the sounds of it—was even bothering to speak to him; most just made the ward-evil sign and walked away as fast as their legs could carry them.

The stranger straightened up. "I need to speak with you."

Now Ido's eyebrows rose, expressing further surprise. "Someone actually _wants _to speak to me? My, how the gods must be laughing."

The horse pranced around him, its rider keeping the beast within range of the Rat halfling. "Get on the horse. We're leaving the city."

Ido looked over the horse, which didn't seem too fond of him, as from the way it was stepping around him it looked mightily like it wished to kick him, and _hard_. He took his cue and scrambled onto the horse's back, behind the stranger. At least now he couldn't be smited, because he was getting out of the city. Somehow, he'd have to find the others.

The stranger rode fast; dodging around the clumps of people haggling for food and the steady stream of incomers. It took all of Ido's balance to keep himself from toppling right over the horse's rump, and he rather thought the horse wouldn't be able to resist kicking him on the way.

He wouldn't give the horse that satisfaction.

They made their way out of the city; soon the tall stone walls had receded behind them and they were riding on a road, nearly empty except for the occasional refugee toiling along. The stranger pulled the horse off into a clearing, and even if they weren't stopping at that point, Ido slid off the horse's back, groaning.

He decided then that he was not built for horse riding. Especially not _that _horse—he could swear it was laughing at him, even now. The stranger dismounted, walking to the Rat halfling.

"I need your help." He didn't sound all too pleased about admitting it.

"Who needs the help of a _halfling_?" Ido snorted, crossing his arms, doing his very best to convey his annoyance.

The stranger huffed, pulling off the scarf that had concealed his face. And Ido froze in disbelief; for he knew that face, though he had never seen it beyond the Imperial palace.

"_Your _Prince Heir _asks it of you, Rat."_

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><p>Eona was falling.<p>

She knew she was; the wind rushing past her, the feeling of her wings streaming behind her, and the water looming ever closer—it told her so.

She turned in the air, looked up at the dragons who were fast spinning away from her. She caught the Mirror Dragon's gaze and held it; like the red dragon was her lifeline.

The water was closer than ever. She could feel the spray, tossed up by the waves, forming droplets on her skin. Oddly enough, she felt no fear, cushioned in the Mirror Dragon's eyes. Her wings stirred at her back, stretching out of their own accord and catching the wind blowing off the sea.

Eona spun in the sky, looping out over the sea. Her wings' movement was jerky, but _she was flying_! Flying like a dragon truly should!

She flew higher, wings pumping, spiraling into the clouds, merging into the energy plane.

_They were all around her_.

A collage of dragon bodies and dragon colors flying around her, the _Hua _in the air so thick that it felt almost tangible, like Eona could reach out and touch it; held in the net of the dragons' energy, she let her wings fall still, till all that held her above the earth was the power of the spirit beasts.

The Mirror Dragon drew up behind her; she knew it as surely as she knew her own _Hua_. The dragon queen's breath flowed over her, and Eona smelled cinnamon. Then the touch and the voice of the red dragon drowned out all thought.

_They will come for you._

_They? _Eona echoed, hearing the confusion in her own mind-voice. The red dragon lifted her head, the golden pearl below her chin pulsing with low, steady beats. Eona was drawn to it, staring into its depths, as the Mirror Dragon spoke again.

_See them, and know them. _And the energy world flashed bright before Eona's eyes; held over the earth she could see all the little points of _Hua_, so normal in their silvery glow. Like a curtain rising, other _Hua _lights crept into her sight—all different colors, and if she looked hard enough she could see a sudden bright golden _Hua _wreathed around herself—the Mirror Dragon's own energy.

Then she counted the different-colored lights—eleven of them. She gazed back to the dragons, matched each _Hua _glow to each dragon.

_The other halflings!_

She turned questioningly to the red dragon. _What do you want me to do?_

The Mirror Dragon drew away from her, the golden energy flowing with her. _Find them. _An image grew in Eona's mind, that of the blue _Hua _of the Rat halfling—and the silver of a full human. She wasn't sure who would want to keep the company of halflings, but she knew better than to go against the might of a dragon.

Even if she was something of a dragon herself.

She fixed the blue _Hua _in her mind, locked onto its signature from high in the sky—

—and she folded her wings, the dragons' energy suddenly gone as she slid back into the mortal plane, and plunged from the sky like an arrow.


	3. A Dragon's Spirit like a Beacon's Light

_Author's Note: _I apologize for the wait—after I posted chapter two, I had the first 500 words of this chapter typed up, ready to go—and then writer's block hit. For a while I didn't know how I wanted this chapter to be, and I had to change it around several times before I was satisfied. As well as the fact that I am working on another idea of mine which I may possibly turn into another fanfiction, essentially dividing my time between the two. Although I will try to update at a semi-regular schedule, I can't say for how my inspiration will fare. Likewise I will also try to keep my new idea from overruling this story.

I'm happy to see there are more people reading this story and liking it! I will try to live up to your expectations, and I hope that the almost three-month wait can possibly be forgiven. Concerning the appearance of other characters in this story—namely Dela, Ryko, Rilla, and Chart—I'll say this much: Dela and Ryko I have a role for, and they will definitely be appearing, and I am considering Rilla and Chart's appearances at some point, though I am still not entirely certain where. I hope this satisfies your questions!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Three: A Dragon's Spirit like a Beacon's Light_

"So you're saying…" the Rat halfling paced in a circle around Kygo, "that you've been sent to gather up all the halflings—mighty hard on its own, might I add, but then you'll have to get us all to perform this…Spirit Dance, whatever that may be, and thus save your land from total annihilation."

Kygo had just explained to him the reason why he was out in the city. As the Prince Heir had secretly suspected, the Rat halfling wasn't very convinced of the story. He had thought perhaps the halflings could tell when someone was lying, with the dragon spirit in them. Apparently this one was either uneducated in the art of lie detecting, or the rumor was wrong.

"You don't believe me."

To his surprise, the Rat halfling shook his head. "I can only disbelieve you on the second part. The first part, the gathering of the halflings—" His face twisted, like he didn't particularly care for what he was about to say. "The dragons wanted me to find the others."

Kygo's eyebrows rose. "The _dragons_?"

"Yes, don't you know them? There are twelve of them, always in a circle, eleven males, one female, all sorts of colors—" Ido broke off his words when he noticed Kygo's glare.

"I _know _what the dragons are," he growled out through his teeth. While he wasn't able to interact with them, not in the way the halflings did, he certainly could see them! (Albeit the fact that he could rarely hold them in his vision for long) "Although I'm surprised they commissioned you to find the other halflings. Did they say why?"

Ido huffed, his tail lashing behind him. "If they have a reason, they didn't tell me," he said stonily. After all, the dragons had to have their secrets, didn't they? He had no doubt that they knew what this 'Spirit Dance' was and how it involved the halflings—could it possibly be the reason they'd summoned him to bring the others together?

Kygo mulled this over, meeting the Rat halfling's defiant gaze. "So not even you, descended from the dragons, know what they want from you—or any of us."

"_No_," was Ido's clipped answer.

The Prince Heir paced in a small circle, finally stopping before Ido. "We haven't been properly introduced. You most likely already know who I am; but I do not know your name." His eyes spoke the question more so than his words.

Ido's gaze darkened and for a moment he didn't speak at all, staring intensely at a sprig of grass at his feet. He stood there so long that Kygo thought he might not answer; but then the Rat halfling spoke in a voice like ice. "I am Ido." His chin jerked up, and his eyes flashed with something like pride; despite the fact that he was something almost universally despised amongst the greater population of the Empire—he knew he had power that they could never understand, could never harness and use.

_He _was descended from a dragon.

Kygo knew, of course, the old tales of how the emperor's bloodline descended from the dragons as well, but there had never been any solid proof of such a thing—and people without dragon's blood could view the dragons in the sky, if they only cleared their mind enough. So he had dismissed the tale as nothing more than a legend.

What did it matter anyway, when he couldn't change the land like the halflings could?

"Ido," Kygo repeated, to ingrain the name into his memory. The look on the Rat halfling's face said that even half-starved he was a formidable enemy, with half a dragon's power. The prince thought that for now he would try to be civil—after all, traveling with a companion who strongly disliked you would only make this whole ordeal worse.

Silence stretched between them for a long moment, each considering what was at stake here. At last Kygo reached out and grabbed his horse's reins, drawing the animal back closer to them. "Are there any halflings within a day's ride of the Imperial City?"

Ido turned his head upwards, his ears twitching against his dark hair, eyes narrowing faintly. The sky in his line of sight folded into the energy world; he forced himself to ignore the brilliant glow of the dragons, looking instead to the gray land all around them. One by one, the bright-yet-dim _Hua _glows of the other halflings came into focus. While Ido wasn't sure how much traveling distance equated to a day, he could see that there was a relatively close halfling, compared to the others.

"Purple—Ox," he said; at the question in Kygo's eyes he swiveled to the general direction of south-southwest, pointing out the relative position.

"How far?" Kygo squinted, following the path of Ido's finger.

The Rat halfling could only offer a shrug. "How should I know? Ox is the closest one in any direction. That's all I can tell you."

Kygo huffed and climbed into the saddle. "I suppose we will just have to find out," he muttered under his breath, tugging the horse towards Ido. "Get on."

Ido glared at the offending beast. "That thing? It wants to kick me, I can tell." _Maybe it even wants to leave me trampled in the dust._

"_That thing _is our transportation for now. Either you're going to deal with the horse, or you're going to be running. Which would you prefer?"

There came a muttered growl from the halfling as he debated between the lesser of two evils. "For now," he reluctantly agreed, "the horse wins." He gave the equine a dark look, announcing, "But first chance I get I'm finding some other way of transportation."

"Fine," Kygo said through gritted teeth, "but would you hurry up? We have a long way to travel and not much time to do so."

"Nice to know I'm appreciated," Ido hissed, clambering his way onto the horse's back. Once he was seated Kygo snapped the reins, and the horse took off, leaving a trail of dust and ash behind it.

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><p>Halfway down from the dragons' height, with her gaze fixed on the far-off blue and silver <em>Hua <em>glows, Eona remembered her mother waiting on the beach.

Reluctantly she turned her gaze from the glows, let the dragons and the lights shimmer away from her sight. She stretched out her wings and caught a low-lying wind coming off the ocean; she let it carry her to a run on the beach's fine sand, taking her right to her mother's feet.

Lillia's dark eyes were alight with curiosity and the beginnings of pride. "You flew!" she beamed, teeth flashing in the sunlight. "You truly flew!"

"I did," Eona said—when she had been doing it, she had not thought at all of her accomplishment, for she had previously thought that flying would be weeks away, at the least several days. But now it hit her—she had _flown_! She had flown like a dragon—_with_ the dragons!

"I'm so proud of you!" Before the Dragon halfling could react, she'd been pulled into a hug. She smiled against her mother's shoulder—of everyone in the village it was only she that continually treated Eona like a human being rather than some freak of nature—though undoubtedly she was admittedly very different from the other residents of the village. Lillia said that she'd found Eona as a baby, floating in the shallow end of a tidal pool, and even though the traits of a halfling were visible—tiny nubs that would become curling horns, the flabby wings barely-grown, the thin tail—Lillia had no children; though she wished for some, and even if it came to her in the form of a baby halfling, a Dragon halfling at that—she had taken it.

And thus Eona had grown up in this seaside village, removed from the rest of the Empire—in all her life, there had never been anyone of real importance that had come to their village. While travelers were rare to begin with, the failing earth was driving more and more towards the Imperial City. Eona had often wondered what the Emperor could possibly do to save the land—could he beseech the dragons to save the people?

She had never even understood the purpose behind the creation of the halflings, either. Sometimes she had looked up at the sky, and asked of the dragons why she was here. Being a halfling did not seem the best thing to be, as the plants died and the clouds turned to ash. People seemed even more likely to blame their problems on you.

Thoughts of the halflings reminded Eona of what the dragons had asked of her. She stepped out of the embrace, studying her mother. "Mother…I talked to the dragons."

Dark eyes widened. "You…spoke to the dragons? The Dragons of Good Fortune?" Lillia whispered, shock spreading across her face. She had not expected this—had not considered this at all. "What…what did they want?" she questioned haltingly.

Eona looked away from her mother's gaze, fixing her eyes on the scalloped shells spilling out of the bag at their feet. "They wanted me—Mother, they wanted me to find some people. The Rat halfling—and a human, traveling together. I don't know why; but it's important, I can feel it! Maybe—maybe we can fix all of this!" She swept one hand up towards the gritty clouds, out towards the dying ocean.

Lillia stared at her 'daughter' for a long moment, before she sighed softly. "I knew this day would come," she murmured, and Eona blinked, confused.

"You mean you _knew_ about all of this?"

Her mother shook her head, the beginnings of tears flickering at the edges of her eyes. "I've never know specifics—I just knew that somehow, some way, you would have to leave me one day. You halflings—you aren't like the rest of us, you're bound by a higher order; you have a special purpose. There must be a reason why you hold half the energy of a spirit beast. I've always known you were special—and now you have to find this purpose, have to make your way in this world. I knew I couldn't keep you here with me forever. Not when the dragons would call you away."

"Mother…" Eona wasn't sure what to say; she hadn't realized that her mother had been able to read this much into her existence—had loved her this much to want her to stay when everyone else wished her gone.

"But—" her mother carried on, "—if you have to go—" a glance at Eona's face told her that she must "—will you at the very least allow me to choose someone to accompany you? I realize few would dare attack a halfling, but…humor me. I want to make sure you're safe—wherever it is you're going."

"I don't know where exactly either—but I can follow the lights." Eona nodded slightly. If all her mother wished was to have someone accompany her on this journey—she would agree. This was important; she could feel it in the dragon power bubbling through her veins. "But—Mother, no one in town even likes me. Who would consent to travel with me for…for an indefinite time?"

Lillia tilted her head, eyes thoughtful. "As I recall, there was a traveler in town about a day ago—probably still there. An island man, heading to the eastern tribes—I didn't catch the whole story, but he doesn't seem to be like the others. He seems to respect a dragon's power. You could travel together for a time—until you find the Rat halfling and the human you need to find."

Eona considered this, abstractedly running a hand over her hair, pulled back into a braid—though no amount of styling could hide her dragon's horns.

"All right," she said finally. All the more better for her if she was traveling with someone who knew to respect and be wary of a dragon's power and _Hua_. "I'll have to leave soon," she mumbled, her hands twisting awkwardly in the fabric of her tunic.

"I know." Lillia was looking away, up into the sky as if she could not bear to see her daughter knowing she would be soon away from the shelter of their beach, into the chaos that was the dying Empire.

There was a moment of silence before Eona asked, "What is his name?"

"Name?" Lillia repeated, for a fraction of a second appearing confused by the sudden seemingly irrelevant remark.

"The islander you saw in the village," Eona explained patiently. "What is his name?"

"Ah." Lillia's eyes brightened with realization.

_"Ryko."_


	4. How a Dragon's Soul Shines Through

_Author's Note: _It would appear it's been another long wait between chapters. At least from the story stats page I know people are still reading this story, and I apologize for the wait. I don't really have an excuse. My ideas were going all over the place, and a few more story beginnings showed up on my computer. I wasn't sure quite how to write this chapter, which is partially why I've delayed so long. I would sit down in front of my computer and do just that—sit. I wasn't very productive. And then, today, I sat down in front of my computer after a long wrestle to get the internet working—and voila! I typed up this entire chapter. Here you go, readers, a few months late, and I hope it's not too terrible for having been written in a day.

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Four: How a Dragon's Soul Shines Through_

The murky sunlight didn't make the town the Rat halfling and Prince Heir were traveling through look any better. Dilapidated shacks thrown together from driftwood and salt-encrusted ropes crowded the ashy-dirt road. Pale faces flashed in openings that may have once had glass in them but now were nothing more than air.

The horse's hooves stirred up the soft silt that was a mixture of decaying dirt and fine ash as well as—occasionally—a small pebble or two. Kygo remained perched on the beast's back; the moment they had arrived in the desolate seaside town Ido had slid off and now walked beside it, albeit reluctantly. His rat's ears were flattened to the back of his head as his eyes flashed across the buildings, searching for the _Hua _of the Ox halfling they had come to find.

Whoever remained in this village stayed well within their huts; maybe it was the sight of the travelers themselves, but Ido was firmly entrenched in the opinion that it was him, as a halfling, that kept the people away. Not that he really minded; with them all tucked away he could scan their _Hua _easily. So far he had found nothing but the silver of humans—weak, sputtering silver, but silver all the same.

"Found him yet?" Kygo's voice sounded faintly impatient; with his face mostly concealed beneath the scarf, Ido couldn't be sure if he was frowning or not, but the look in the prince's eyes told it all. The Rat halfling shook his head once. "All I see are a load of humans. But he has to be around here somewhere; he can't have gotten too far from us."

Kygo harrumphed, flicking the reins through his fingers. His eyes flashed from hut to hut, though he could not slide into the energy world as seamlessly as Ido; as well as the fact that he had never been able to see the _Hua _lights of others' spirits—he could only bring into focus the dragons, and even then they were blurrier than he'd like them to be. There were few in the Empire, however, that could teach you such a skill like the mind-sight.

Especially now that it seemed as if the very world were decaying before their eyes.

_No_, Kygo told himself. _The Spirit Dance will save the land. The dragons will bring back the life energy to the Empire. They have to! I will not watch this land—the land my parents and my family has fought to keep safe—I will not watch it die without knowing I have done everything I can to save it! _As his eyes swept across the village spread out ahead of him, his fingers clenched over the reins. _We will stop this._

Oblivious to Kygo's moment of doubt, Ido had carried on searching, stopping just ahead. His ears perked up and his tail swished as he turned back towards Kygo. "Here." He indicated a shack that appeared much the same as the others—driftwood patched together to form walls, haphazard pieces of wood and fragments of stained cloth—retrieved from the wreck of a boat, Kygo imagined—forming the roof of the structure. It was literally swaying in the wind, and Kygo had half the thought to walk up to it and push a wall, just to see if the whole building would simply collapse on itself. It didn't seem very sturdy at all—but he supposed, you worked with what you had. This was as good a place for a halfling to dwell as any.

Kygo slid down from the horse's back, loosely tying the reins to a nearby fence railing before moving to join Ido. The rat halfling walked to the door, eyeing it warily as if expecting it to fall on him, before pushing through it, eyes narrowed. Kygo followed in his wake, muttering out of the side of his mouth, "You could have _knocked_."

Ido rolled his eyes slightly. "Ox!" he yelled, his voice surprisingly loud in the enclosed space. "I know you're here! You might as well come out of your hiding hole!"

There came a rumbling noise as a cascade of clutter rolled past them from the force of a figure standing. The Ox halfling had the horns, sticking out horizontally from the sides of his head, a faintly ox-ish nose with flared nostrils, and there was the faintest flickering shadow of a slim tail from behind him. Dark eyes turned from Ido to Kygo and back again, as a deep voice spoke.

"Well, well. The Rat halfling and a human. To what do I owe this pleasure?" He tilted his head to the side, making his horns look suddenly lopsided.

Ido crossed his arms. "This one—" he gestured towards Kygo "—needs all the halflings in the land. Says we might be able to bring back the flow of _Hua _in the earth. And the dragons have ordered me to gather all of us, anyways. You're the first one to be found."

The Ox halfling's eyebrows rose slightly. "Oh?" He didn't seem very surprised. "That's one I haven't heard yet."

Ido snorted. "You can't possibly have anything better to do, Ox. Look where you live." He swept a hand out towards the walls of the shack. "One gust from a fierce ocean breeze and this whole building—no, this whole _town_—would fall apart."

"I have a name, Rat." The Ox halfling's eyes narrowed. "And it would do you well not to make light of my home's condition. It was not like this before."

"Then, surely, you would want your home to be a better place?" Kygo spoke up for the first time, meeting the halfling's eyes. "This is your chance. You have the power, you and the eleven other halflings—you can revive this land. No more will you be despised for your appearance. You will not have to hide away in a crumbling hut, you will not have to make yourself a thief for a living—" here he looked pointedly towards Ido, who huffed and looked away "—all you have to do is come with us. Perform the Spirit Dance with the dragons. Etch your name into history as one of those who gave back the life to the Empire of the Celestial Dragons."

The Ox halfling was silent for a long time, considering. His dark eyes, different from Ido's amber ones, showed nothing of his decision as he moved forwards, studying first Ido and then turning to Kygo. "If you ask this of me—I wish to know what kind of human would travel with halflings. Who has bid you do this, and what does that make you?"

Kygo was still. At last he sighed, and, tugging the scarf away from his face, muttered, "I suppose this is how it will be for all of you." The purple dragon's halfling stared at him a moment, clearly trying to work out where he'd seen that face before. Finally he dropped into a low bow. "Greetings, Prince Heir." He straightened. "You say that we might be able to change this…death plague that is crossing the Empire. If we have been given this chance…I will take it. I will accompany you to find the other halflings, to whatever your end destination may be."

"Thank you." Kygo acknowledged the halfling's words, retying the scarf about his face. "You may call me Kygo. I would rather not draw attention to my station while we are traveling. The Rat halfling's name is Ido. And what are you called?"

The Ox halfling smiled slightly. "My name is Tyron."

* * *

><p>Eona decided she liked Ryko.<p>

He was an islander, from the other coast; he had dark skin and dark eyes and a kind face. He also didn't run away when he saw her dragon attributes, which may have been the more deciding factor, as she could think of only one person who didn't immediately make themselves scarce in her presence—and that was her mother.

Ryko bowed. "It is an honor to meet the Dragon halfling."

Eona raised her eyebrows. "Some—_most_—people wouldn't think of it as much of an honor." Her wings twitched at her back and she carefully pushed them back into place. Before her mother had taken her to meet Ryko she'd gone on another short flight, to prove to herself that she could indeed fly on her own, and not have to rely on the dragons to be there to catch her.

Ryko straightened up—he was a lot taller than her, she noticed; the horns on her head barely made it to the height of his chest. "Then they are gravely mistaken. They do not understand."

Eona nodded absently; she wasn't sure how much there was to understand about being a halfling—you had half a dragon's power and you bore the traits of the animal in the dragon's name. And people generally were not fond of you. That was all she saw in it. "You'll accompany me, then?"

"Yes. I'm headed in that direction anyways; may as well keep you company."

Eona thought of what the dragons had told her. "I'm looking for the Rat halfling and a human traveling together. I don't know why…" She shrugged. "But the dragons seemed to think it was important. And you don't say no to a dragon."

"Indeed you don't." Ryko nodded. He glanced about the little village, perhaps comparing it in his mind to the one he came from; the houses had been constructed from things the sea had spit out onto the beach; there was even one house completely constructed of sea shells and mortar and the occasional coral chunk. Most of the others were a combination of driftwood, the long tufts of grass that could formerly be found growing near the entrance of the village, large flat rocks and mortar, along with whatever else could be found whilst combing a beach.

"When do you wish to leave?"

Eona considered this. She turned away, spreading her wings carefully. "Wait here a moment." She took a running leap and her wings caught her on the descent, pushing her into the sky. The Empire was spread out below her in a panoramic view; and she imagined it must have been a beautiful sight, before the sickness or whatever it was came to the land. She could sense the dragons, higher in the air above her, but she did not focus on them; she turned her gaze to the _Hua _glows that, combined with the grayish tone of the earth, appeared almost like stars.

She let her gaze wander, lightly touching on each of the glows of the halflings, separate from the silver stars of the human population of the Empire. Eona looked—and found—the blue _Hua _of the Rat halfling; for it would be nearly impossible to search for an individual human amongst all the others.

But, curiously, the Rat halfling was in the same place as the Ox. She felt a brief flicker of confusion. The dragons had told her that they—the human and halfling—would come for her. The spirit beasts hadn't said why. But they hadn't mentioned that the other halflings might be being gathered as well.

Now she looked up, towards the circle of twelve dragons above her, their jewel colors a stark contrast to the death below. "For what purpose?" she whispered to them, feeling her hands clench over the gritty, dirty essence of a nearby cloud—it crumbled against her touch, falling as ash towards the earth. "Why do you need us?" Unconsciously her gaze sought out the great ruby eyes of the Mirror Dragon.

"Why?" Eona asked.

The red dragon arched her neck, her mane flashing in the dim sunlight, making her appear even brighter. Eona felt something twist inside of her; these creatures were otherworldly, and though they could commune with the land—did they truly wish to save it? What was the purpose of the halflings? Surely the dragons did not mean for their children to be so…despised. Eona couldn't count how many times she'd seen a ward-evil sign flashed in her direction, just by walking through her own village.

But the Mirror Dragon did not offer an answer. Her head swept up, revealing the bright glowing gold pearl beneath her chin, pulsing with bright gold _Hua_, the brightest star amidst smaller stars.

Eona could feel the very energy pooling from the beasts and into the air, but it never reached the ground below; it dissipated into the sky, barely moving the ashy clouds from their positions. And suddenly, quite suddenly, Eona was angry. The dragons had all this energy at their command, and they didn't use it, they sat up here in the sky and _watched_, just _watched_ the land die! How was that 'good fortune'? How was that in any way a reason to revere such creatures?_ "Why aren't you _doing_ anything when we need you?"_ she yelled.

Eona didn't realize she was shaking until the dragons swooped down around her, and she felt the brush of a claw or a wingtip or a scaled hide. The Mirror Dragon loomed before her, and in those eyes Eona saw a terrible, terrible sadness. There was a raging sea held within the female dragon's eyes, and Eona was drowning in it, even before the dragon queen's pearl came to rest lightly upon her head, between the curling dragon's horns taken from the dragon herself, bringing the torrent of emotions spinning into the Dragon halfling's mind.

She smelled the cinnamon on the Mirror Dragon's breath; the jewel colors of the other dragons flashed into her vision—the emerald of the Tiger Dragon, the copper of the Snake Dragon, the coral of the Rabbit Dragon. Four words echoed into her mind with the resounding crash of peals of thunder:

We_ need _you_, Eona._

Then the Mirror Dragon retreated, the contact with her disappearing the moment her pearl left Eona's head, and the resulting sudden loss of the wave of emotions left her head spinning.

Thus, released, she fell back towards the earth, winging her way shakily back to the village. The words were still there at the forefront of her thoughts. She hadn't realized the dragons knew her name. She hadn't realized…they needed her. They _needed _the halflings.

She found Ryko, still standing in the place she'd left him. "Is tomorrow too soon?"


	5. Follow the Threads of Dragon's Light

_Author's Note: _Can it be? Has the world begun to end? Am I actually updating within a few _days_ of my last update? …Yes, yes I am. You see, I was on my account looking at the stats page and it came to my attention that this story has received 400 hits. I felt rather wanted! It's nice to be wanted, you know—and so I just sat myself down at my computer and typed up the next chapter. Maybe this quick updating will make you all happier, eh?

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Five: Follow the Threads of Dragon's Light_

Kygo had discovered they had a problem—all three of them could not fit on the horse, especially not with the thickly-built Tyron, who embodied the animal traits of his dragon rather well. The people of the dying town had remained inside their huts—not that they had ventured outside while Kygo and Ido were speaking to the Ox halfling.

"I could run alongside while you two ride," Tyron offered; Ido immediately shook his head. "No," he announced, "that horse seems like it hates me. It's just _waiting_ for the right opportunity to kick me into the dust. I'd rather have the chance of being able to avoid that. I can run."

Kygo rolled his eyes, clearly showing his opinion of Ido's thoughts on the horse. "It's just a horse. Why in the name of the dragons would it want to kick you?"

"Horses kick rats all the time," Ido muttered mutinously. "It must think I'm an overgrown rat."

Kygo couldn't quite hide the snort of disbelief and Ido glared daggers in his direction. Tyron glanced past the fighting halfling and human, towards where the horse stood. "If we cannot all fit on the horse," he began, "and surely running will slow us down once we have found more of the other halflings—perhaps we could simply make use of a cart?"

Ido blinked. "I thought there weren't any carts anymore…rotted away, or at least, the wooden ones did." He frowned. "Aren't all carts made of wood? Anyways, I never saw anyone coming into the Imperial City in one—they were all walking, or, if they were very lucky, riding."

"I've seen a few carts, but most of them were broken down." Kygo shrugged half-heartedly. "Are you saying there's one here? You'd think they'd have scavenged the wood for building materials by now if there was a cart around," he added, more to himself than to either halfling.

Tyron nodded slightly. "That would be the case—but no one wants to go near the home of a halfling. None of them have realized I have one. It's decently-sized. Can't really think of what I was originally going to do with it. Maybe reinforce the walls. But it'll be put to a better purpose if we can use it to carry us. I don't think I'll need to reinforce the walls with a broken-down cart if we can bring back the _Hua _to the land."

"Right." Kygo nodded. The Ox halfling disappeared back into the shack, where they could hear him rummaging around throughout the piles of clutter before making a noise of triumph. He returned shortly with a cart in surprisingly good condition for the times; and it was fairly roomy, which made one wonder how he'd managed to hide it in the first place.

Kygo led his horse over, inspecting the harness. He made a face (not that the others could see it as he still had his scarf on) "Are you sure this will work? The leather seems fairly worn…"

Tyron eyed the harness thoughtfully. He took hold of a handful of the leather straps and heaved. The cart shuddered, axles creaking and the wheels lost a good coating of dust before rolling forwards. The Ox halfling turned back to the prince. "Looks like it works."

Kygo sighed. "I suppose we'll just have to trust it won't break at some point." He guided the horse into the harness, tightening the straps before stepping back to inspect his work. "It'll have to do." He climbed into the seat up front. "Get in back, both of you. Where's the nearest halfling, Ido?"

There came a muttering from the Rat halfling as he and Tyron climbed into the cart—muttering which sounded suspiciously like, "What am I, your halfling locater?" But still, he focused his gaze to the sky and let the mind-sight color his vision. He took a moment to focus upon the nearest color that wasn't silver, though it looked awful close to it. "White…? No, ivory. Dog. Dog is closest, to the east."

Kygo flicked the reins, and with a grudging snort the horse plodded forwards, towing the cart with it. Tyron glanced towards Ido. "You can tell where the other halflings are?"

"Yes."

Kygo half-turned. "You mean not all halflings can do that?" He had simply assumed, having discovered Ido first, that all the halflings had the same abilities and as such could tell the difference between a halfling's life-energy and a human's—namely by their dragon color, as that was how Ido appeared to be identifying them.

Tyron shook his head, mystified. "I have never been able to see anything other than silver. Although—that could be because I have not been into contact with any of the other halflings until today." He squinted at Ido. "However…perhaps not. Your _Hua _does not seem much different than his." He angled his head towards Kygo.

"Might've been the dragons then…" Ido grumbled. "I never noticed anything different when I was off thieving in the Imperial City until they decided to shove their heads into my business and tell me to gather all the halflings."

"You've _spoken to the dragons_." Tyron's eyebrows were steadily creeping up towards his hairline.

"They don't seem to take 'no' for an answer." Ido didn't add that he had been of the mentality that the dragons might actually smite him if he had chosen to go on with his life as it was, instead of hunting down the other halflings as the dragons had requested—ordered?—of him.

"You wouldn't say no to a dragon," Tyron pointed out. "No one would say no to a dragon unless they had the power to make their threat a reality."

"Humph," Ido crossed his arms and stared out at the scenery passing them by—from the seaside town the landscape changed from beaches to cliffs covered in trees, and they were winding their way through a forest that, from all appearances, was made up of trees molded from ash. The gray clouds hanging above their heads seemed to be dissolving, bit by bit, and those pieces of dry, brittle cloud that fell to earth had coated all the trees in a fine dusty shell. None of the trees had leaves and the ground had no grass at all. This was no forest—merely a skeleton, ravaged by the blight on the land.

"Such a nice place," Ido's eyes flicked from tree to tree. Tyron grunted agreement. "Why—" the Ox halfling started; changed his mind. "Do either of you know what we're all being gathered together for? How are we supposed to be able to revive the land?"

Kygo kept his eyes fixed ahead, but he answered. "The Spirit Dance—the Spirit Dance is how you'll bring back the life of the Empire."

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><p>Eona looked up at the trees, staring at the pale leaves that just barely clung to the branches—they seemed almost like the petals of a flower, about to blow away in the next burst of wind.<p>

"This isn't normal, is it?" she asked of Ryko—he was older than her and surely had been born when the land was not yet dying. "It's not normal for everything to be dying…for the trees to seem as if they will turn to ash if you touch them."

Ryko shook his head. "I am fairly certain it is not. If only you could have seen the colors of the changing seasons, little Dragon—on the islands, the leaves of the trees in autumn turned to bright gold and orange and red. I only witnessed it for the first nine years of my life—but I can still remember it."

Eona stared into the sky. "That sounds wonderful," she said wistfully. The only season it seemed to be on the coast was a dried-up summer. There was little to no fish left in the ocean, as far as they could tell. Grass was growing sparser day by day. While the air didn't seem to be getting any colder—surely it should have been autumn by now, or early winter; Eona didn't mind the warmth, but it was just another sign in a growing list of the way their land was slowly dying.

They walked in silence for a time, the only sounds their breathing and the soft, slightly crunching noises beneath their feet that was the remains of roots, rocks, shrubbery—anything that had once been on the forest floor.

The first time Eona heard it, a whispery echo of the light crunch across the ground—footsteps?—she ignored it. It was probably an animal, or just her imagination.

The second time she heard it, she strongly attempted to convince herself it was an animal. She didn't want to know what the alternative would be.

Then she thought—_What kind of animal would be roaming about a dying forest? They would have more of an instinct not to go anywhere near such a place!_

"Ryko," she said as quietly as she could when the sound came for the third time, "do you hear that?"

"Sounds like footsteps," he answered, tilting his head slightly to the left. "Can you see what it is with your dragon powers?" And if they hadn't been walking with something unknown behind them, Eona would have slapped herself—she hadn't thought to scan the surroundings for other _Hua_!

She slid into the mind-sight, almost stopping when she saw the gathering of silver human _Hua _interspersed in a wide circle about herself and Ryko, camouflaged into the trees. She tried to count—ten? Fifteen men? "We're walking into an ambush," she whispered, eyes growing wide. Beside her, she felt Ryko stiffen and grip the sword at his side—he had heard.

Not a moment too soon had they noticed, for the forest was suddenly alive with moving figures and the gleaming of many swords. Eona's wings snapped out, ready to fly, and Ryko drew his sword. The Dragon halfling had to dig around in her belt pouches a bit to find the dagger given to her. She _could _use a sword, but she was better with daggers; and it was easier to just give the sword to Ryko, who had more experience.

"How many?" Ryko hissed out of the corner of his mouth. Eona hefted her dagger. "Fifteen, I think?" she replied, but her voice was almost drowned out by one man's cry:

_"A halfling!"_

The call was taken up by the others, whose eyes had acquired something of a manic gleam. The ring closed in as one yelled, "We shall sacrifice her to the dragons!"

_Sacrifice? To the _dragons_?_

The Dragon halfling leaped into the air, a second before a sword would have come down on her back. She screeched at Ryko, "They want to _sacrifice _me to the _dragons_? What kind of perverse thought _is t_hat?"

Ryko's sword flashed through the air, bringing down one man in a spray of blood. "People will turn to anything when they're afraid of dying!" he yelled back as Eona dove, burying her dagger into shoulder of one man trying to slice off Ryko's head. She jerked back in time to watch the attacker fall, but now her dagger was buried somewhere beneath the mass of fighting men.

Eona hovered a moment, trying to think. What could she do? She had lost her weapon, and the ambushers looked as if they were close to overwhelming Ryko. True, since there was such a thick bunch it was only possible for a few to fight at a time, every time one went down, another took his place, and Ryko wasn't without injuries, either.

Quickly she scanned the remaining _Hua_—nine left from fifteen. They'd only gotten six of them. So focused was she that she didn't notice the man in the back lifting a bow, arrow fitted to the string. She felt only the pain flowing suddenly from her right wing; she lurched sideways awkwardly as she struggled to stay in the air, her wings beating frantically—oh, she could see the arrow, wasn't that just absurd?

Quite suddenly she felt something above her; her mind falling back into the dragon-sight, she was astonished to see the red bulk of the Mirror Dragon hovering above her—called by her pain? Whatever the case—the Dragon halfling's eyes locked onto the pulsing pearl beneath the red dragon's chin and a horrible, wonderful idea came to her all at once.

Eona swung her gaze downwards. "Ryko!" she yelled. "Trust me—whatever happens, _don't move_!" Even as she saw his head jerk up, his mouth opening to form the question, she was already reaching out to the Mirror Dragon.

"Please," she whispered, staring into those depthless jewel-red eyes. "Grant me your power." Her hands moved, unbidden, her arms stretched to their greatest lengths. And as the Mirror Dragon bowed her head and the coarse pearl came to rest against Eona's palms, she heard the voice of the dragon queen say, _My power is already yours, daughter._

She could no longer even feel the pain of the arrow through her wing—the raw golden _Hua _of the Mirror Dragon surged from the pearl and into the Dragon halfling; she bit back the scream as she forcibly lifted one hand from the pearl to direct the shower of energy straight down.

And then the flow of _Hua _was sundered abruptly as the red dragon lifted her head—her parting word rang in Eona's head—_Enough_—before the Mirror Dragon's wings lifted her higher into the sky, to rejoin the compass of eleven male dragons circling above.

The last thing she saw was when her gaze drifted down to find Ryko standing alone at the center of a crisp, still slightly burning circle of fire, trees that had been previously standing upright knocked to the ground in the shockwave. She saw what the dragon's _Hua _had done—because beneath that layer of ash and charred dirt, she could see the barest beginnings of green sprouts.

And then her wings fell still. The Dragon halfling felt nothing as she tumbled downwards; and right before she would have struck the earth, everything went black.


	6. To Offer Hope of Dragon's Might

_Author's Note: _Sorry about the long wait between chapters; and right after I'd updated really fast, too. I somewhat lost motivation to actually write both this and my other story; although sometime in early August I convinced myself that I should plan this all out. So I've written out a basic timeline with a rough sketch of each chapter, and I have determined that this story will be _approximately _16 chapters long. Now, that isn't to say I might not change my mind, but for the most part, I believe I will be ending it in ten chapters from now. This was never meant to be a super-long epic story. So! Most of you probably don't read the author's notes anyways, but—my rambling's over, so you can all know the end will be somewhat soon, as since I have a timeline, I should also be able to update on a semi-regular basis. Read on, and enjoy!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Six: To Offer Hope of Dragon's Might_

_"The Spirit Dance—the Spirit Dance is how you'll bring back the life of the Empire."_

"The Spirit Dance," Tyron echoed. "What—exactly—is that supposed to be? I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Neither have I," Ido supplied grumpily from the other end of the cart. He was staying as far away from the horse as he could without having to worry about also falling right out of the cart.

Kygo sighed, guiding the horse and cart past a rotting tree. "The royal archives mention it once or twice," he said, eyes flickering across their path. "My father told me it was once a fighting form as well as a way to communicate with the dragons. It developed over time to become what it is today; I don't know the specifics, but it has something to do with the dragons and the _Hua _of the earth. I expect the dragons will guide you when you finally get around to it."

"Huh—" was all Ido got out before the cart went rattling over a particularly rocky juncture in the road; all three were reduced to gripping the sides (Ido and Tyron) or the reins (Kygo) and hanging on for dear life. Once Ido was convinced there were no more rocks in the road, he muttered, "You do realize that by the end of this if the dragons do nothing we'll all be fumbling around looking like fools because we don't know how to perform the Spirit Dance."

"The dragons wouldn't ignore you like that," Kygo scoffed. "You're the halflings—their _children_. Why would they bring you together only to watch you all fail?"

"They did a pretty good job of keeping out of my life until two days ago," Ido grumbled. "Let's face it; they want to save face because they let the land become as horrible as it is, so suddenly they care about what happens to us."

Tyron was quiet; normally, he would have defended the dragons—they were, after all, akin to gods, and you couldn't badmouth a god without assurance of retribution. But the Rat halfling did have a good point—the halflings as a whole were discriminated against for being simply different from normal humans; why couldn't the dragons step in and _do_ something?

The thought crept into his mind: _Do the dragons really care? If they did…why would the land be dying ever so slowly? If they cared, why are we so despised? If they cared…_

Kygo didn't offer his own thoughts on the matter—he wasn't a halfling, so no matter what he said, he couldn't understand the way they thought, the way they felt…the way they had the power of the dragons at their fingertips. The cart wound through the fading forest, scraping across a dry streambed at one point, but even that wasn't enough to break the depressing silence that hung about the cart's three occupants.

Finally Kygo felt it necessary to ask. "Ido, is the Dog halfling still somewhere around here?"

Ido frowned, studying the _Hua _lights in his dragon-sight. The white light of the Dog, only slightly distinguished from that of humans' silver color, was still hovering somewhere up ahead, within the boundaries of the forest. "He's still there. A little more north, I'd say." He sat back, immediately regretting that as the cart jerked its way over another rugged patch.

Silence consumed them again, the metaphorical black cloud hanging over them still; Ido focused his eyes on the sky, picking out the gleaming, gloom-untouched hides of the dragons high above them. His eyes narrowed as his gaze found the Rat Dragon, blue body like a piece of the sky that was only visible at the edges of the Empire.

The Rat Dragon's head moved, as if aware of the scrutiny; quickly Ido returned his gaze to the ground ahead of them before the depthless spirit eyes of the beast could find him peering up from below—his eyes widened as his gaze, still within the borders of dragon-sight, fell upon the ground in front of them. "You're going to—" Even though he didn't finish, Kygo reined in the horse and the cart skidded to a stop. "What?"

Ido glanced around. They hadn't _run over _the Dog halfling, had they? Peering under the cart's wheels, and in turn the stretch of dirt directly behind them gave no sign of any blood. But…was he wrong? He focused—no, it wasn't just him; the cart had gone right over the white light, but there was no sign of the halfling.

_Down_. Something dragged his gaze downwards, to the dirt. It looked as though it had been moved around—disturbed from its natural state…as though someone had _dug under it_!

"He's under us," Ido announced, as Tyron and Kygo came to his side. "He must have heard the cart approaching and thought underground was a better place to hide than the trees."

Kygo crouched, clearing away some of the displaced earth and revealing a small tunnel opening. He put his head beside the hole and yelled, "You can come out now, Dog! We're not going to hurt you!"

A voice echoed from somewhere below them. "…You could be lying! How do I know you're not just trying to lure me up there? You could be just waiting for your chance to sacrifice me!"

The three aboveground exchanged long glances. "Sacrifice?" Tyron repeated, looking confused. "Why would we want to sacrifice him?"

Kygo shrugged halfheartedly, calling into the tunnel, "Why in the name of the dragons would we want to sacrifice you? Then our whole journey would have been for nothing if we don't have all the halflings!"

"You mean…you're not one of the hunters?"

"_No_!"

There came the distinct sound of something crawling through the tunnel; Kygo, Ido and Tyron stepped back as a head emerged from the tunnel's opening.

The Dog halfling had a pair of drooping dog's ears in place of human ones; his nose was more like a canine's, with fine whiskers dotting his cheeks. When he climbed free of the tunnel, a furry tail appeared as well. The halfling stood half-poised to run, though that stance lessened slightly after seeing the other two halflings standing next to Kygo.

"What's this?"

"We're off on a journey to collect all the halflings and then somehow save the land from dying through the use of this strange mystical form called the "Spirit Dance" although none of us know how to perform it or even what exactly it does to heal the land," Ido said blandly, almost making it sound as if it were an elaborate tale, one of those rather unbelievable stories one heard that, on occasion, happened to be true.

The Dog halfling raised an eyebrow. "…Really?"

"Yes." Kygo nodded. "If you're that worried about being…sacrificed, come with us. 'Strength in numbers', as they say."

At the mention of sacrifice the Dog halfling's eyes darted about, searching out every tree's shadow visible to them from their distance; after a long moment he focused back on the trio in front of him. "Who would have thought," he began, "that the halflings were meant to save this Empire at all…?" One eye twitched slightly.

"Will you come?" Kygo was trying his very best not to sound impatient.

The Dog halfling was silent for a beat. "Truly, you do not mean to lead me on and then sacrifice me later?"

"Yes. What we've told you is the truth." Tyron nodded swiftly. "Come with us, brother, and we will no longer be despised…no longer having to be sacrificed for the sakes of others.

The halfling studied them all before his gaze flicked to Kygo, who he had (rightfully) assumed was the leader of their ragtag little group. "…I will come."

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><p>Eona struggled back through the hazy darkness, fighting her way to consciousness. Her eyes opened to see the unfamiliar gray sky high above her head; the faint ashy leaves of the trees reaching up towards that sky, as if it could bring them any form of sustenance, with the rains gone. Much closer than forest and sky was Ryko's worried face. "You really had me worried for a second there," he admonished her once he noticed her eyes were open.<p>

She sat up slowly, feeling a light twinge from the wing that had been shot through, but other than that, very little pain. Ryko moved back to give her space, give her time to think. What had she done? She sorted through her fuzzy memories, staring up into the sky. For a moment her vision blurred, the Mirror Dragon's red bulk reared against the clouds before the beast was gone again in another second.

_The Mirror Dragon._

She remembered now—they had been attacked; she had used the power of the dragon's _Hua _to protect them. Seeing now the extent of her folly—the ring of knocked down trees from the blast, the scorched earth charred black from the blaze of energy that she had thought intangible, yet it had done so much… "What…" she coughed nervously. "What happened to the—the attackers?"

Ryko met her eyes evenly. "They're gone," he said softly, as if he was trying to lessen the blow; at least he was honest with her. "Your idea saved both of our lives, but…"

"I _killed _them?" Eona exclaimed, horrified; even Ryko's "_Technically _it was the Mirror Dragon—I saw her for a brief instant before the trees fell—it was the dragon that killed them, not you" could sway her from shock. It didn't matter that the energy had come from the dragon queen; _Eona _was the one who had directed the energy, it was _her_ idea. She had destroyed those bandits, and even if they _had _been trying to sacrifice her in the first place…

In an attempt to distract herself, she swept her hands across the ground, feeling it disintegrate in her fingers. Clearly this dirt couldn't take both the slow death of the land combined with a sudden blast of dragon power. Her hands skirted the edges of the dirt, found the soft edge of a leaf that did _not _crumble away in her hand and she froze for a half-second, blinking rapidly. Was that…?

"What is…?" Eona turned on one side, staring down at the tiny improbably _green _sprout poking from the earth. She hesitated to touch it again, for fear that it was only holding its form for a few more moments; she was certain she'd see it blow away into ash the moment a breeze swept through the trees.

The little sprout, however, not only did not disappear before her eyes, it even waved a little in the light gust. Eona threw caution to the wind and ran her fingers across the top of the leaf. It wasn't going anywhere. She glanced towards Ryko, her confusion evident. "I thought…isn't the land dying?" _Isn't the very earth dissolving around us?_

"It is." Ryko nodded. "Isn't that why the dragons wanted you to leave your village?"

"Well…yes, but…" Eona looked back to the plant. "This…this little plant isn't _dead _yet. It's not dying, either. By all rights, it should be, but it's not. Why? Why is it still alive when everything in this forest is practically three-quarters of the way to death?"

Ryko crouched beside her, studying the plant as it swayed in another breeze. A faintly confused look flitted across his face before it disappeared. "That wasn't there before."

"What?" Eona was more confused. "What do you mean, it wasn't there before? Wouldn't it _have _to be?" No new sprouts had grown in some time, at least in this forest, from what she could tell.

"Not necessarily," Ryko replied, prodding the little plant. "Everything in the land is dying, true—but you used the dragon power to protect us, to hold off the bandits. I imagine you don't interact with the dragons often if at all, so you aren't used to their _Hua_. Because you're inexperienced, you knocked down a small part of the forest, charred a hole into the dirt and completely blew away the bandits. However—I've heard tales how some halflings were able to manipulate their dragon power for healing. That little plant appeared because your power, after dissipating into the earth, tried to heal it. Because it was too little, there's only a few of these little plants, but…" Ryko shrugged slightly.

"Power to heal…" Eona looked around, spying three more of the sprouts, each bright green. She felt a faint smile cross her face—even the grass on the cliff at the seaside wasn't really a vibrant color, more of the old, dry yellow-green color. This, _this _was what grass was supposed to look like. This was what the forest, the trees' leaves—this brilliant green was what it was supposed to be.

Eona stood, holding the green image in her eyes, turning in a slow circle to stare at the trees, imagining them in their natural state, leaves reaching towards an endless blue sky, grass a carpet upon the ground, shrubs and animals of every kind all over the grounds of the forest. A smile flashed across her face—"This is how the world is meant to be," she breathed, laughing softly. "Such is the purpose of the dragons, of the _halflings_!"

Understanding sharpened her memory into clarity—she had been so confused, so angry, wondering if the dragons deserved to be worshipped so. She hadn't understood when the Mirror Dragon told her that they, the dragons, needed her, needed their other children.

She hadn't realized _why_.

She whirled to Ryko, eager to share her epiphany. "Ryko, do you see? This—" she swept a hand to the little green plants doggedly resisting the death of the forest around them "—this is why we halflings exist! Oh, if the others of the village could see this—if everyone in the Empire could see this, they would regret trying to destroy the only thing that can save them!"

Eona tipped her head back, staring into the great eyes of the Mirror Dragon, far above her. Her eyes danced; now she knew.

"We will make this land anew through the power of dragon's strength!"


	7. A Whisper of Dragon's Promise

_Author's Note: _Huzzah! An update! While it's at the very end of the three-day time I gave myself to update this story…anyways, I'll try to become a little more regular in my updates, but I can't say for sure, because school might come and pounce on me with that horrible beast known by many names: homework, projects, essays… Getting older is horrible. You'll notice some familiar characters in this chapter—see, I _did_ find a place for them!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Seven: A Whisper of Dragon's Promise_

The Dog halfling's name, the little motley band had discovered, was Garon. He could offer them precious little on the so-called 'hunters' he had been hiding from; only that they wished to sacrifice the halflings through some misguided belief that it would somehow revitalize the Celestial Empire.

Kygo shook his head wearily. "When people have little hope…what can they turn to but violence in the sake of righteousness?"

Tyron shifted uneasily. "This place…does not feel right. We should get moving." Both the Ox halfling and Kygo's eyes found Ido, who was sitting on the edge of the cart and staring off into the distance—for all Kygo knew, the Rat halfling might be looking at the dragons and he'd never know.

"Ido!"

"What?" The Rat halfling lifted his head slightly, ears flattening back against his spiky black hair. "What do you want now?" he grumbled, crossing his arms, being deliberately obtuse, at least in the Prince Heir's opinion.

"Where's the next halfling?" Kygo resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes, settling for simply glaring pointedly in the Rat halfling's direction.

Ido heaved a long sigh but hopped off the cart carefully, and for the first time Kygo saw the halfling's amber eyes shimmering with a gleaming silvery color as he stared up into the sky—was that what the dragon-sight looked like? But he had only a moment to wonder, because abruptly Ido's eyes were amber once more, and he indicated a direction somewhat northeast of their current position. "Copper—ah, Snake. Close, too. There's a town nearby, just past the rise of the forest."

"Good." Kygo nodded once, climbing into the cart's driver's seat, taking the reins. "All of you get in back. Don't hesitate to duck if you see trouble—from what Garon's told us, there could be some of those hunters in that town. Ido, can you tell if there's any difference between the humans' _Hua_?"

Ido let out a strange laugh. "That's just it," he raised his eyebrows, folding his fingers together. "There _aren't_ any humans. There's only the Snake halfling in that village."

The unspoken question hung in the air between them: _No humans at all? Why just the halfling?_

Somber silence filled the group; the cloudy sky and dead forest seemed even gloomier—and Kygo had to wonder what had made an entire village disappear. What kind of force could wipe out an entire village, even one that was going through hard times from the death of the land? (_But wasn't everyone having trouble? How could anyone have time to take out a village when they were just as hungry as the next person?_) He said nothing, though, keeping the silence; the horse's hooves striking the dirt and the creaking of the cart's wheels were the only noises accompanying their descent from the edge of the forest and into the remains of the town.

Kygo could see a peak-roofed well off to one side of what had once been a well-traveled road; small clusters of buildings sat on either side of it, most having succumbed to raiders or rot or the elements during the time they had been abandoned—much of the roofs had fallen in, and some of the walls as well, leaving wooden debris and fragments of twisted metal scattered across the road.

The strange thing was that there were no bodies.

"Nice place," Ido muttered dryly, sweeping a hand towards one of the houses in the middle of the dead village. "Snake's in there." Before any of them could make a move towards the barely-standing house, a rotting plank of wood was shoved aside and a thin figure emerged, the tiny scales glittering on the edges of his cheeks and the back of his arms, reptilian eyes narrowed in the grayish light.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of the company of three halflings and the prince of the Celestial Empire?"

The quartet by the cart exchanged looks of varying confusion before Kygo stepped up, half-curious if his disguise really wasn't as good as he thought it was—or maybe, just maybe, it was because the halflings weren't quite human… "Our greetings to you, Snake halfling. I have a proposition for you, if you'll take a moment of your time to listen." He wasn't sure what exactly the halflings _did_ with their time, but _still_…

"Go on." The Snake halfling tipped his head to one side, intrigued, and Kygo saw serpent's fangs flashing wickedly when the halfling spoke, a somewhat unnerving sight to behold.

"I'm sure you realize the land is dying all around us. The dragons have charged us with the duty of reviving the Celestial Empire to what it once was, and we need all the halflings to do it. Will you help us?" Kygo knew he was exaggerating a bit—he knew the dragons had told Ido to find the other halflings, but not anything about saving the Empire. Still, he hoped he wasn't lying when he thought that the dragons were supposed to care about the land they were tied to. Surely they wanted the Empire to survive?

The Snake halfling studied them all, eyes flashing from one halfling to the next before finally resting on Kygo. "My name is Chion," he said, "and there is something you must know, if you plan on travelling with a group of halflings."

"What's that?" Kygo rubbed at his wrists, trying to get rid of the sudden onset of goosebumps. Chion had a voice that could sound rather dreadfully foreboding.

The Snake halfling's eyes flickered in the light. "Do you recognize the name _Xsu-Tou Pass_?"

The other halflings were already shaking their heads—they'd probably never seen a bona-fide map in their entire lives, but Kygo cast his thoughts back to those old lessons of learning the Empire's different terrains and crops produced. _Xsu-Tou Pass_…the name sounded familiar, like he'd read it on a map, but he couldn't recall it ever being of any significance, or else he'd know more about it. He shrugged half-heartedly. "I recognize it, but that's all. What's the pass's relevance to traveling with halflings?"

Chion smiled grimly, and Kygo wished he wouldn't do that, because the snake fangs were even more visible than before. "Xsu-Tou Pass is the most dangerous place in this land for anyone of halfling nature."

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><p>Eona studied the somewhat-small yet sprawling building on the road before them. She and Ryko had emerged from the forest, leaving behind the little sprouts—regretfully on Eona's part, as they proved to her that the dragon's <em>Hua <em>within her could be used for a good reason, if she just put her mind to it.

She tried not to think about the ultimate fate of those that had ambushed them in the woods; she supposed she was lucky, in an at once both horrible and grateful, for the dragon _Hua_, as she had learned, also offered her a faster healing rate than normal humans. Her wing, after only a day or two, could bear her weight with only slight pain. She could fly again, and she watched the group of halflings growing. Four now, she could see, though they were farther away than before, and Ryko and she still had to get to the Eastern tribes.

"What is this?" she asked Ryko, gesturing towards the long building. The islander's eyes narrowed, flicking across the edges of the structure. "An inn," he said, glancing up towards the sky. "Good timing, as well. Sky's darkening. Night will be here soon, and it will be better to be inside than out, as we're close to the mountains. Never know what could crawl out of there."

Eona nodded abstractly. "Do you think…these will matter?" She tapped her horns meaningfully, and Ryko's eyes darkened.

"I don't know," the islander admitted. "These days, you never can tell whether someone will like you for what they can see of you, or whether they'll just outright try to get rid of you, one way or another." On that bright note, he walked up to the door and knocked three rapid times. Eona stepped up behind him, mostly hid by his bulk, as the door opened and a woman appeared, gray swirls in her dark hair showing her age—but her dark eyes were alight with warmth. "Visitors? Come in, come in."

The woman ushered both halfling and islander into what had to be the main room, as far as Eona could tell, with still-sturdy wooden floors and beams, the walls hidden beneath thin wispy wallpaper. A fire crackled in a cracking stone fireplace, the only sign of wear in this surprisingly well-preserved place. There was an arrangement of chairs about the fire, and Eona sank into one gratefully, certain she'd never been so comfortable in her life.

There was a rustling as Ryko seated himself on the chair nearby, staring into the twisting flames. The woman reappeared from another door, carrying a tray of soft bread rolls, setting them on a small stand Eona hadn't noticed sitting beside the chairs. A small boy who appeared about Eona's age dogged her heels.

Eona carefully reached for a roll, mindful of her own appearance, but the woman either didn't notice the fact that she was the Dragon halfling, or didn't care. Likely, though, Eona thought it was more of the second one. This woman's eyes seemed too shrewd to miss such a thing like halfling traits.

"Welcome to my inn," the woman said without preamble. "I am Rilla, and this is my son Chart." She indicated the boy, folding her hands across her lap. "There are other workers, but you likely won't see them. I sent them off when the drought got worse." She offered a strained smile. "So who are you, and what brings you this way?"

Ryko introduced himself, with Eona adding in her own in a quiet voice. "We're heading for the Eastern tribes."

"The Eastern tribes?" Rilla's eyebrows rose. "Not many head out that way. Some say it's because of Chief Dela, but…" she shrugged faintly, sighing. "Of course, it could also be because of the halfling there, too."

Eona sat up a little straighter, suddenly more aware. "Halfling?" she asked, and Rilla's eyes flicked to her. The older woman smiled faintly. "Yes, child. The…Rabbit halfling, if memory serves me right. You're a halfling too. Is that why you ask?"

Eona ducked her head, nodding. "Yes. I'm—looking for the others. Thank you for telling me about the Rabbit halfling. You didn't have to."

Now Rilla shook her head. "No, it is my gratitude for what the dragons have done for me." She beckoned her son closer—he was munching away on a bread roll and not quite paying attention—and she wrapped an arm around him, saying, "My son was blessed by the dragons. That he is even able to speak properly is a gift."

"Blessed by the dragons?" Eona repeated, confused. "I don't understand. How did the dragons…_bless_ your son?" She hadn't thought that the dragons would notice an individual from the many, many humans populating the Empire. What would motivate them to do such a thing?

Rilla stared into the fire, as if looking back through old memories. "When Chart was born…his body was—" She struggled to find words. "—twisted. Not quite…right. This was still the early stages of the land's death, so the inn was prospering. I could afford to not be as vigilant with my customers. I prayed to the dragons to help my son, to give him a better life. I waited for days. Finally, after almost two weeks, I received an answer. Suddenly my boy could move without pain, could speak—as well as any baby can—could crawl, laugh…_move._ I swore I would do whatever the dragons wished of me in repayment. And then, when Chart learned to speak, he told me something…intriguing. Something that the_ dragons _told him, to tell me, so that I might pass it on to the proper person."

"And…who is this proper person?" Eona had the feeling she knew already.

Rilla smiled gently. "You, little Dragon halfling. The message the dragons gave to my son, and him in turn to me, was this: _Only when the circle of stones has been washed of the blood of the innocent will life return to power._"

Eona frowned. The words had a weight to them, like a prophecy of sorts. " 'Only when the circle of stones has been washed of the blood of the innocent will life return to power'…" she echoed, turning to look at Ryko. "Do you understand any of this? 'Circle of stones'? 'Blood of the innocent'?"

"I haven't a clue," Ryko replied, much to Eona's disappointment. The islander's next words stopped her cold, however:

"But I bet we'll find out before this journey's over."


	8. The Power in Dragon's Blood

_Author's Note: _So I'm updating, surprise surprise. Real life has finally caught up to me—what a bummer—and I may not be able to have as much time to write as I would like. Again, I'll try to update when possible, but I might not be able to adhere to the schedule of two chapters a month—one every two weeks—as I had hoped. So be prepared for the worst, and when I can update semi-regularly, be pleasantly surprised, and encourage me often. It's nice to know all of you are reading—this story's broken 1,000 hits—but I'd like to know what you think, or, if you have any ideas you think would be interesting in the story, feel free to leave said idea(s) in a review or message me.

This chapter stands as a little longer than normal, due to the fact that I had an idea; Eona and Ryko seem to be having all the discovery-oriented segments (Eona discovering the dragons need them, and that the purpose of the halflings is to channel the dragons' _Hua_) so I gave Kygo and company a chance to have a moment of figuring something out the same time as the readers do. Eona and Ryko do have their little prophetic phrase to comprehend, though, so that may also count as discovery-oriented, so basically this whole chapter is one discovery after another.

Also, it has been posed to me of when Eona will meet Kygo, Ido, and the other halflings. Unfortunately I must admit that their meeting is slated for chapter eleven, which is, also unfortunately, three chapters away. This is how the timeline goes, but I am not averse to having them meet earlier should such an idea appear that coincides well with the storyline.

That's probably the longest author's note I've ever written. I'm sure you're tired of reading my ramblings, so go on and read the story, because we all know that's what you're really here for!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Eight: The Power in Dragon's Blood_

_"Xsu-Tou Pass is the most dangerous place in this land for anyone of halfling nature."_

The silence that filled the air was almost tangible; Ido, Tyron, and Garon were alternating between exchanging long looks with each other and towards Chion, as if trying to figure out whether or not the Snake halfling spoke the truth. It was Kygo who finally spoke up, asking the question they all wanted to but couldn't quite find the means to.

"What do you mean, 'most dangerous place'? Is this—" And here he seemed to happen upon a moment of inspiration as his gaze landed on Garon. "—is this where the _hunters_ are?"

Chion's smile was clearly not meant to be in any way reassuring. Serpent's eyes glittered in the gray light as he replied, "Xsu-Tou Pass is indeed the lair of the halfling hunters. It is their altar, their home, their most precious place. It is their _religion_. Upon the Ancient Stones they have sacrificed many a halfling's blood to their cause. And they will not stop until the cycle is broken."

"You can't _break the cycle_," Ido said, but it was a half-hearted attempt at convincing them, and they all knew it. The Rat halfling's eyes flicked across each of their gathering circle as he said, "You can't break the cycle. It's—it's for _eternity_! The cycle of the dragons _never ends_!"

"You would think that," Chion said, raising an eyebrow, "but if the hunters' cause was futile, they would not try so desperately to capture any halfling they find and feed its blood to the stones. Something is motivating them, something has been _shown_ to them, or discovered by them, to make them believe that the cycle of the halflings' reincarnation—and in turn the cycle of the dragons—can be broken by force, by the spilling of innocent halflings' dragon-_Hua_-filled blood."

"How is it that _you_ know this, Snake?" Ido asked suddenly, his tail whipping behind him and stirring up a plume of thick dust and dirt mixed together. "Everyone knows you can't fake the halfling attributes, but—you seem to know an awful lot about these hunters and their purpose… How did you figure out that _they _figured out that halfling blood can supposedly break the cycle? I don't suppose you walked up to a hunter and asked him politely, 'Oh, however did you come up with the idea of sacrificing us poor halflings to the dragons in a deranged attempt to bring about the rebirth of the Empire?' " He snorted derisively, kicking at a stone near his feet.

Chion regarded him evenly. "I seem suspicious to you," he allowed, conceding the point.

"You could be a lure," Garon muttered, for the first time making an effort to join the conversation. He and Tyron had been watching the proceedings through ever-increasing widening eyes, but had yet to offer an opinion on the matter. Now the Dog halfling's eyes had acquired the same almost manic look to them as the same day they had first met him, with that stance of being poised to run at a second's notice. "You could've been given a deal by the hunters; they agree to kill you last, as long as you find the halflings for them. This land's bad enough without the persecution of the halflings, and a lot of people find snakes to be disturbing anyways, right? Depressing life overall; so the deal could've been better for you—you get to live a little longer, with guaranteed safety as long as you take out the other halflings first. And you get the distinction of maybe being killed painlessly as opposed to, you know, whatever else they do to kill the halflings they capture. Probably maiming and torturing and…" He trailed off, as all eyes in the group had turned to him.

Ido was the first to speak. "That…though rather depressing…was shockingly well-thought out." His eyebrows had been steadily creeping towards his hairline, a testament to his surprise, throughout Garon's speech—which was likely to stand as a record for how long the Dog halfling had spoken in their presence. "And true, to boot. So, again, how is it you know so much about the hunters, Snake?"

Chion straightened, his eyes glowing like tiny moons. For a brief instant, he seemed to be more than the halfling he was, as if his presence was somehow amplified—or overshadowed by something far greater than any of them. Ido focused, and the coppery body of the Snake Dragon twisted into view, spirit eyes locked on the confrontation, thin tongue flicking out from behind great long fangs.

The dragon was gone when Ido blinked; and so was an odd little light steadily slipping away from the edges of the houses…

"The Snake Dragon," Chion said calmly, at odds with his slightly angry stance, "is the Keeper of Insight, as all of you should know. I have seen the hunters before—they did not see me, of course—and their fervor in hunting down the halflings indicates that they have a goal in mind, that they have a purpose.

"I have seen Xsu-Tou Pass—at great length—and witnessed a sacrifice. The hunters are very methodical—someone, _something_ told them a specific way in which to spread the taint of spilt blood. I do not know what entity chose to tell them of this, but it is not hard to make the connection between the continuous hunting of halflings to the last, the cycle starting again with the next generation. They wish to break the cycle, because they must somehow believe the dragons are the cause of it, and snapping their connection to the land leaves them without a tether to this world, without the influence to shape the weather as they see fit."

Once more, silence reigned as Kygo and the other halflings absorbed this information.

Finally Kygo nodded once, accepting Chion's words—for what else could he do, when they needed the halfling and suspicion amongst them would do nothing for their unity and balance?—and turned to Ido expectantly.

The Rat halfling heaved a long sigh. "Brown. Rooster…very slightly north of here. Close by, possibly on the outskirts of the village. Could be scavenging. Could be eavesdropping on our conversation." He said it like the latter was the one he really expected, and started down the road.

"He can tell the halflings from humans?" Chion questioned, as they all trailed after the blue dragon's descendant. Kygo nodded absently, noting that with this revelation, for all his insight, Chion did not have the same ability to locate the different halflings by the supposed color of their dragon's _Hua_.

Ido stopped beside the house nearest to the beginning of the forest and marched right up to the front door, aiming a kick at the side. The door, no longer able to handle such abuse, toppled over into the house—lucky for Ido; not so lucky for the sole inhabitant of the house, who leaped backwards from the falling door with a squawk.

His halfling attributes were barely visible in the dark gloom of the hut, but Kygo could just see the edge of a feathered tail poking out from behind him, and the thin glimmer of feathers lining his arms. "Caught you, Rooster," Ido said, crossing his arms staunchly. "Listening to conversations when you shouldn't be?"

The Rooster halfling lifted his head boldly. "Anything involving halflings is worth finding out about," he said. "And who's ever heard of a bunch in the same area? It might be worth my while to figure out why. So I did."

"Awfully simple…" Ido grumbled, and Kygo cut in. "How much do you know?"

"Everything," the Rooster halfling shrugged. "You shouldn't discuss important topics like that out in the open where everyone can hear about them."

"Fair enough," Kygo tilted his head. "So. If you know everything, then you know what we're doing, and what I'm going to ask you."

"That's right." The halfling grinned. "I'll join you, for what it's worth. Might make living in this land more bearable for all of us—that is, if we all end up surviving this fantastic venture of yours. As you can see, I'm obviously the Rooster halfling. Name's Bano."

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><p>"You're sure that's all they said?" Eona studied Rilla and Chart; mother and son had been staunch in their support for the halfling's mission, but they could not offer information they simply didn't have. And soon Eona and Ryko would be on the move once more—though, on a bright note, they were close to the Eastern tribes. A ray of sunshine in a world of eternal gray clouds.<p>

"_Only when the circle of stones has been washed of the blood of the innocent will life return to power_." Rilla repeated the prophetic phrase that Eona had heard thrice over now. Nothing had changed about it either time she had heard it since the first, not even the sense of foreboding or the faintest prickle of fear. What did the words mean, and what did they have in store for the land Eona and Ryko were trying to save?

Ryko sighed. "I don't know much about this 'circle of stones' and 'blood of the innocent' business, but 'life'…that's the dragons, don't you think? The cycle of the dragons and their power…tied to the land. The life of the land is the life of the dragons and of us…so whatever you do, you're going to bring back the life in the land. Like the forest—the little plants you created, Eona. Those will be trees one day, trees taller than your head, than this inn."

Eona nodded. "Dragon's _Hua _can save the land…but how do we expect to channel it? How can we find this circle of stones and wash it free of blood? Where is it, and how will we know what it is when we see it?" She waved her hands helplessly. "There are too many questions we don't know the answer to."

"Perhaps the Eastern tribes can help," Rilla suggested, though even she sounded a little doubtful. "After all, they have the Rabbit halfling, and their leader is a twin-soul. Maybe they will be able to make more sense of this than we can. Fresh eyes pick out more puzzles than weary ones, as they say."

"We'll see," Ryko agreed, rising to his feet. "Thank you for offering us the use of your inn. You've given us more than we can repay."

"Repay us by saving the Empire," Rilla smiled, standing as well. Eona bade good-bye to Chart, thanking him once more for passing along the phrase given to him by the dragons. He smiled and nodded acknowledgement; Eona got the feeling he was still a little awed by her presence—she was the Dragon halfling, after all.

Ryko gave a nod to Rilla, and he and Eona headed to the door. "May we meet again," Eona called; and the innkeeper and her son waved in response. Soon enough the islander and halfling were out the door and walking the road again, dirt and gravel slowly shifting to sparse grass that had overtaken whatever trail that had previously been there.

For a while they walked in silence; at one point Eona lifted into the sky, wheeling among the clouds and diving through the faint beams of sunlight that managed to filter through the gritty clouds only to never reach the ground below. Almost instantly her eyes shifted to the mind-sight, and the dragons coalesced into visible silhouettes about her, ever in their compass, twelve great dragon bodies glowing with vibrant _Hua_.

Eona locked gazes with the huge crimson eyes of the Mirror Dragon. _Will you help us? _she dared ask. _Will you help us find the circle of stones? Will you help us wash those stones of the blood of the innocent? _The questions could not be halted and she found herself asking what she had wanted to know all along—but had never quite had the courage to say so. If they wanted, the dragons could squash her like a bug. But for now, she had their attention, and she asked, _Will you help us save the Empire from death?_

She was relieved to find her mind-voice did not falter at the thought of challenging the dragons—because what would she do if they refused? (_But why would they have sent her to find the other halflings if the dragons did not intend to use them to bring about the rebirth of the land?_)

The Mirror Dragon's eyes were unafraid—the dragon queen would not, could not fear such a small, fragile creature such as Eona, a halfling who could be easily destroyed if they so wished—and they held swirls of emotions that Eona could not untangle. The red dragon stretched out her neck, copper-flecked mane flowing along the length of the scarlet scales, the golden pearl beneath her chin a promise of endless _Hua_.

The Mirror Dragon's single-word answer rode the rush of blazing energy that poured into Eona; for a moment, she forgot to breathe, forgot to even move—but the dragons kept her tied to the sky, as the red dragon's answer was burned like a brand into her memory:

_Always_.

And then she was released from the grip of dragon _Hua_, left gasping in the sky and yet feeling as though she could fly to the ends of the earth and still be able to return. The dragons faded from her sight, but she knew they hadn't gone. They were always there, watching, waiting for the right time.

She returned to Ryko after a long moment to collect her thoughts; she was able to tell him that the dragons would help when the time came. And that was enough, for they crested a ridge and Eona saw their destination.

They stood at the edge of a valley dotted with scraggly, spiny bushes; a river moved sluggishly across the valley floor, pooling into a small lake—which had been markedly much bigger once, from the line of seashells visible from the sand-dirt that Eona could see. Sitting by the shore of the lake was a cluster of huts; a thin trail of smoke—a fire—rose from somewhere near the center.

"We made it," Ryko muttered at her side. "That's it—those huts there are what make up the Eastern tribes."


	9. Passing Shadow of a Dragon's Silhouette

_Author's Note: _Again, another longer chapter (couldn't help myself) Plus, there is some serious psychological craziness going on here; seeds of doubt, fear…all in a day's work, I suppose. And hey, I managed to update twice this month! (Never mind that this is the last day of November) Read on, enjoy, and tell me what you think—especially of how all the different Dragoneyes' personalities are shaping up. Do you guys like them like this? Are their personalities too different, too similar, too just-plain-weird…?

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Nine: Passing Shadow of a Dragon's Silhouette_

Bano studied them all, idly running his hands along the pale feathers on his forearms. "So—we're all off to save the Empire and hopefully not get killed while we're doing it."

"That would be the best possible outcome, yes," Chion nodded faintly. "But, as you all well know, plans often go awry… Fate won't let anyone escape its grasp, and I think we may all have a turn at playing the pawn before all is said and done."

The Rooster halfling raised his eyebrows. "Cheery bunch, aren't you?"

"Oh, we're cheerful all right," Ido drawled. "I'll be cheerful once this quest is over and done, and we'll have either changed the world or—more likely—we'll all be dead and everything will die." The unspoken end of the sentence was clear to all of them: _Even the dragons. _Because what were the dragons without the land they had long ago tethered themselves to? Without the Empire—could there even _be_ dragons?

Bano laughed; an oddly jarring sound to those who had not heard such a sound in the time they had spent on this earth—and it was a genuine laugh, not one provoked by falseness or nervousness. "Oh ye of little faith—the dragons have guided us thus far, haven't they? We say it's of our own minds and our own choices; but be sure of it: we're being herded together—for better or worse, we are little more than cattle to the slaughter—and if we can change the world…?" The Rooster halfling spread his arms. "Let those old historians huddle and gawk; our names will be written in stone! We will be remembered forever as the ones who brought the end of the blight!"

"Forever," Tyron said solemnly, "until the stone is worn away by time and the cycles of the land."

Bano dropped his arms, moment of glory gone. "No faith," he repeated, shaking his head. "I'm sure more than half of us have become thieves in this time; nobody would trade with a halfling, not even if they were one breath away from dying and us their only hope of salvation. When times get rough, you're barely getting enough food to live off of—sometimes faith is all you have. Hope that the dragons have seen the mistreatment of their children and will someday make it right."

"But—" the Dog halfling paused, ears twitching ever so slightly in fear at being the center of attention once again. Still, he carried on with his sentence. "—sometimes you wonder…if you're not the ones they're holding out for; the dragons—they have to be—waiting for a certain…certain _kind_ of halfling to appear, or else they'd never have let the people of the Empire scorn us so. They would have intervened—and sometimes…you have to think, 'Maybe I'm not the one they want. Maybe…maybe it's the next Dog halfling. Or the one after him. Or—or even _hundreds of years_ past now. Or—or maybe he's already dead and we've lost our chance.' "

"Maybe we _are_, though," Bano insisted.

"And maybe we aren't," Chion said, raising his eyebrows. "We can stand here and argue all day about whether or not we're meant to save this world—"

"Like cattle to the slaughter," Garon interrupted, eyes shining with a horrified realization. "What if—what if this—this _Spirit Dance_—" He glanced towards Kygo to see if the wording was correct; the Prince Heir nodded once as the Dog halfling carried on, buoyed by the terrible idea that had come to him. "—what if this Spirit Dance is how we save the world—by all of us dying in sacrifice to the land? Killed by the hunters for their insane, twisted ideals—but _maybe they're right_! Maybe—maybe we all _have to die_ for everything to be set right!"

"That can't be right," Kygo frowned thickly, eyes narrowing. "My father wouldn't tell me to gather you all in preparation to see you sacrificed! That's not what the Spirit Dance _is_!" His thoughts are wild, like the winds of the mountains racing about the peaks: _The Spirit Dance can't be to kill all the halflings at once! It just—can't be!_

"But you don't even know what the Spirit Dance is," Ido pointed out, his ears standing up, wide and perked. He did not want to die; but he would be lying if he thought that Garon's words didn't have the slightest grain of possible truth to them. "_Nobody_ knows—not you, not us, not even your father _the Emperor_ knows what—_exactly_—the Spirit Dance is! We're assuming that the dragons know, but—what if _they_ don't, either? What if the Spirit Dance is some made-up fantasy from a dusty old book that has _nothing to do_ with what's going on now?"

Chion turned his snake's eyes towards Kygo. "How exactly did your esteemed father discover the existence of the Spirit Dance? Is it truly from a 'dusty old book'? Or does it come from another source entirely?"

Kygo hesitated, casting his thoughts back to when his father had first made mention of the Spirit Dance: admitting that the halflings were uncared for by much of the populace, and that he had a difficult task to ask of Kygo. The Prince Heir dug deeper through the memory, and his father's words came to him: _"I know you have felt this land slowly fading away. Perhaps—perhaps if you gathered the halflings together, and guided them in the Spirit Dance—perhaps the dragons would see fit to return the lifeblood to the earth." _And he could too remember what his father had said after Kygo has asked if he believed that such an idea would save their land—that it was all he could think of to convince the dragons.

_Convince the dragons._

His eyes came open with a start. "The dragons!"

"The dragons…what?"

"They told my father! They told him of the Spirit Dance! I am sure of it!" Kygo could not believe that the Emperor had come by it from any other source—he was the highest of the high, below only the dragons, and the dragons must have realized the only way a mustering of the halflings could occur was if they managed to persuade the Emperor that it was worthwhile!

"The dragons—" the Rat halfling muttered, kicking at a stone, "—why am I not _surprised_ at their meddling in—" His voice cut off as some unseen force turned his gaze to the sky; the depthless eyes of the Rat Dragon and in turn all the others of the circle high in the sky were focused on him. He thought he could read some message in the blue dragon's eyes—_Be ready_—before a great pillar of energy descended from the Rat Dragon and poured into Ido, as surely as if the dragon had placed his pearl upon the halfling's head.

It felt like he had only blinked; but then he was staring up at the sky, the faces of the other halflings drifting in and out of view, Kygo standing farther back. "What just happened?" Bano questioned, hauling Ido to his feet again. "You looked at the sky and—boom! You hit the ground."

Ido glanced around; there was no evidence of the Rat Dragon's power. He forced himself to glance back up, to reach for the mind-sight—a headache already forming—and was relieved that he could still see the dragons in their compass.

The relief vanished as quickly as it had come when he turned his gaze back to the ground and its sea of silver _Hua _lights.

No blue, brown, copper, white, or purple lights greeted him—no other distant halflings' colors across the land. Just silver, humans' silver, and yet he knew that the other halflings stood before him.

He couldn't see their _Hua _colors anymore.

The Rat Dragon had taken away his sense of dragon's _Hua_.

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><p>"That's it?" Eona peered down at the cluster of huts. Funny, she'd always imagined the Eastern tribes as…bigger. Maybe because they were the Eastern <em>tribes<em>—as in more than one. So how could this admittedly meager group of houses beside this one lonely river make up the nomads of the East?

"That's it," Ryko confirmed, starting down the ridge. "Remember, they've got the Rabbit halfling. I'm sure they won't mind the fact that you're the Dragon halfling."

Eona nodded once, but she still tried to tuck in her wings as much as she could, carefully making sure to keep her tail close to her legs at all times. She followed the islander down, surprised to note the still-almost-luscious grass blanketing the ground beside the river; and if the river wasn't clear, it was—mostly so, and that was something of a blessing in this day and age.

Movement between the huts caught both halfling and human's attention; silently a man approached them. Eona thought he must be something like a sentry; her thoughts were confirmed when the man spoke, asking, "What business have you travelers with the Eastern tribes?"

Ryko inclined his head, a courtesy. "We wish to speak with Chief Dela. We have traveled far, and there is much to tell."

Eona thought of the words of prophecy: _Only when the circle of stones has been washed of the blood of the innocent will life return to power._ And of the gathering of the halflings. Yes, there was much to tell, and yet it seemed like they had far too little time to properly speak of it.

The sentry's eyes found her, standing just slightly behind Ryko; his eyes widened and he offered a hasty bow. "I did not realize that the Dragon halfling had chosen to grace our village with her presence! Of course, you must see Chief Dela." He turned and quickly walked back, clearly indicating they were to follow.

Eona and Ryko exchanged glances. "I'm…important?" she asked, unable to hide her surprise; she received a shrug in response. She had never been entirely accepted as a halfling, and then to come here and find that the people here—they _wanted_ to meet her? Because she was the Mirror Dragon's descendant? Because she was a dragon in her own right?

These people _honored_ halflings…

She was not sure what to think of that.

They trailed the sentry in silence; Eona could see flashes of faces in the doorways of the different huts—wide eyes, open mouths; she was certain she heard one child begin to cry—but not the kind of crying of fear, she thought, but of awe. _What kind of place have we come to_, she wondered—_and is it really a part of the Empire of the Celestial Dragons?_

They came to a hut that appeared no different than the rest; but the sentry stooped at the entryway and announced, "Chief Dela, there are travelers to see you. The Dragon halfling has come!"

A voice called out, "Send them in." A regal voice; Eona had half the thought that this woman was indeed something like the Emperor—a leader of her people. Ryko and the Dragon halfling were ushered in; by the light of the carefully blazing fire, Eona found who was waiting for them. A woman with dark eyes and dark hair who had a face that was more majestic than beautiful; but it still gave her the look of regality. And sitting off in the shadows, pale eyes glowing with the firelight, long ears rendered to near-insubstantial shadows—Eona knew he was the Rabbit halfling.

Chief Dela studied them both, a shrewdness to her eyes. "Welcome to the eastern lands," she said, gaze flicking to Eona. "Welcome to the land of your ancestor dragon's domain."

She had almost forgotten that the Mirror Dragon's cardinal compass point was _East_; Eona nodded dumbly, unsure of what to say in the face of such unassuming acceptance.

Fortunately, Ryko spoke, reminding her that he had indeed come with a purpose to the Eastern tribes—he had just never enlightened Eona to what that purpose might be. "Chief Dela, I am Ryko of the far islands; my people and yours were once one tribe, long ago, and we ask that you honor that distant ancestry with aid—the fish in the seas have gone to better spawning grounds, the trees lose their fruit. No others would accept our plea, but perhaps—"

Dela's eyes seemed to become almost sharp as she stared at the islander; Eona had to stop herself from taking a step backwards. "Silvo," the leader of the Eastern tribes beckoned to the Rabbit halfling. He stepped into the light, eyes squinting from the adjusting brightness, rabbit's ears perched almost haphazardly on his head, one halfway curled and the other upright, giving him a lopsided appearance. He had few obvious traits that Eona could see besides his ears and a small, quivering nose, till he turned slightly to take a seat closer to the fire and Eona glimpsed a fluffy tail.

Ryko did not move, did not show he was anything other than focused completely on Dela; the chief rose to her feet. "We believe strongly in the lives of our ancestors," she said slowly, cautiously. "And you may have seen that the grass here is—better-looking—than elsewhere, that our water is still somewhat clean. And this is true, to an extent. But the grass is rotting from the inside out; the water is only moving fast enough to wash away the quantities of silt from upriver trapped in its current. The fish, like those of your islands, disappeared years ago. Few game roams now; it is all skin-and-bones. I am sorry…but we can no more help you than we can help ourselves."

"Ah." Ryko's shoulders hunched, the only sign of his unhappiness. Eona wanted to pat him on the shoulder, say they could survive this—but that would be a lie, because she had no idea how to stop the death of the land.

No. Wait.

She_ did_ know.

"Maybe—" She began hesitantly, and Dela's eyes, and Ryko's and Silvo's too, fell on her. She felt for a moment more alone than ever, even in the company of another halfling. But she managed to find her voice again: "—maybe…I might be able to help with the land."

"You, Dragon halfling?" Dela's eyes were kind yet skeptical.

"Eona," she said firmly. "My name is Eona. I know the dragons are gathering the other halflings—" Her eyes skated to Silvo, who looked mildly interested now. "—I think they want us to save the land. And—I think I know how they want us to do it." She knew the words by heart. "Only when the circle of stones has been washed of the blood of the innocent will life return to power."

The words had the ring of prophecy; and she could tell that Dela felt it as the chief settled back down, crossing her arms slowly.

"Well," Dela said finally, studying all of them in turn, "…you think the halflings can bring the Empire of the Celestial Dragons through rebirth?"

Eona met her eyes and she felt as if the Mirror Dragon was floating above her, great eyes in tune with her heart, telling her what to say. "Yes," she swallowed thickly. "Yes—I believe that we are the key."

Dela's eyes glittered with the faint glow of the dying-down fire, flames licking at the coals. "I am not one to disbelieve someone like the Dragon halfling." A tiny smile crossed her face.

"If you know you can do it—_Eona_—then Silvo and I shall accompany you and Ryko to this _gathering_ of halflings. And perhaps…perhaps we may see the world as we know it changed forever."


	10. Guiding Light of a Dragon's Hua

_Author's Note: _So this is really, really late… I had studying for finals, and went on a trip to visit my relatives in another state over Christmas…but you're not interested in my excuses, so I'll stop rambling now and get to the important stuff.

_Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_ turns one year old tomorrow! Happy day, happy day! (As well as being New Year's Eve, but that's not the point) SO, as a gift to all of you people who actually read this story…I will try—_try_—to update tomorrow, too. And, bonus, the next chapter is where the separate groups come together! This means—yes, Eona, Kygo, Ido, and the halflings they've gathered are all going to meet up next chapter. I will try my hardest to not get distracted by shiny new stories and make myself work to update again, for the first anniversary of _Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_!

Read and enjoy, and don't forget to tell me if I've made a mistake!

* * *

><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Ten: Guiding Light of a Dragon's _Hua

"You…can't see the others anymore?"

The circle of halflings stared at Ido; the Rat halfling stood still at the center, staring into the sky. Once more the dragons swam into his view; they were still as bright and powerful and frightening as ever. But the land was awash in silver light, without the separate glows of the different halflings' dragon _Hua_.

He shook his head. "I don't know why—but the Rat Dragon took my sense away." He was suddenly reminded of when he first gained the ability to see the other halflings; the blue dragon that he descended from had given him his dragon-sight…or perhaps it had been both the Rat and the Mirror Dragons together. Whatever the case, he had never considered that they might revoke their gift. _Don't you want the halflings gathered? _he wanted to scream at the sky. _Isn't this what you wanted? Why would you take that away from me? _But he knew instinctively the dragons would not answer him. What was he but one more tiny _Hua_ light in the eyes of the dragons?

Eyes met across the circle. Kygo at last heaved a sigh and turned, heading to the cart. "Where was the last place you saw another halfling?"

Ido squinted, letting his mind flow to the mind-sight, watching the contours of the land fold into his vision. "Straight?" he tried, hating to sound so uncertain. "In that direction, anyways. Can't be any more accurate than that."

"It will have to do," the Prince Heir said, climbing into the front of the cart and taking up the reins. "Come on, we've still got more halflings to find."

Reluctantly the halflings piled into the cart; it was beginning to get crowded with five of them in the back. "We're going to have to find a bigger cart if we want to fit all of the halflings," Tyron observed. Garon perked up beside him. "Does anyone else hear the sounds of running?"

Ido looked ahead, pricking his ears: indeed, the sound of scrambling feet reached him. He could see a single silver light racing to stay ahead of a mob of other silver lights, burning in their anger. Ido focused on the silver _Hua_ light in the lead; _silver_, he thought to himself. Why did it feel like he was missing something? _Silver… _He lifted his gaze to the sky as Kygo herded the horse and in turn the cart into the nearby shadows of the dying forest.

_Silver! _His eyes sought out the silvery Goat Dragon, floating high above the earth in his compass point. Even without the gift of dragon-_Hua_ sight, he had a feeling that they were about to run into the next halfling. "It's the Goat halfling!" he announced, and several eyes turned to him.

"I thought you couldn't tell any longer…?" Chion let the question trail off.

"Trust me, that's the Goat halfling and those are the hunters chasing after him."

The sounds of footsteps racing across crumbling dirt and grass were heading slowly but surely towards them. "If there's hunters," Bano began, peering out from under the heavy branches of the tree they had taken cover behind, "we'll need to distract them somehow while we get the Goat, and get out of the way before the hunters know what's going on."

"Clever plan, I'm sure, but what do you propose we use to distract them?" Tyron's eyes glittered as he sat forwards, looking more interested now that the conversation had taken a turn towards action.

Kygo stood, looking past the trunk of the tree before turning back to them. "Ido. Your dragon's specialty is illusions, correct?"

Ido shifted an eye towards the Prince Heir, training the other on the glowing lights headed for them. The Goat halfling was about to come into their line of sight, and the mob of hunters—twelve strong—were right at his heels. If they were going to do something about it, they'd better do it quick. "What did you have in mind?" he grumbled, climbing down from the cart and standing at the edge of the forest.

Kygo's eyes were unreadable. "Can you conjure a dragon?"

"Conjure a—" Ido's mouth snapped shut. "Are you _insane_?"

"I know it's a risky plan, but can you do it?" Kygo stared at him evenly.

Ido cast a reluctant gaze towards the sky, where the Rat Dragon and the others waited, watching them through jeweled eyes. He'd never tried to conjure a dragon, but after all, he had some right up there in the sky to look off of, surely it couldn't be extremely difficult?

"Yes," he muttered, committing himself, and leaped out onto the path. He could see the Goat halfling, charging right for him, eyes wide as he glanced back hurriedly into the horde of hunters after him. That moment of looking back was enough; Ido looked to the sky and found the Rat Dragon, drawing its great blue _Hua_ to him. He formed the picture of a dragon in his mind's eye, and the energy folded around him, slowly coalescing into the wispy image of a dragon with wings outstretched.

The Goat halfling's eyes went wide and he almost faltered, side-stepping about the beast that, to him, appeared practically flesh and blood. He skittered towards the tree line and Ido saw from the corner of his eye a shadow dart out and snag the halfling, sending them both teetering into the shadows of the forest. But the Rat halfling was more focused on the band of hunters before him, who had come to an abrupt halt and were staring up at what they believed to be the dragon's face.

Ido crouched, and the dragon-illusion did the same. It was becoming more difficult to hold onto the Rat Dragon's _Hua_. He couldn't afford to be distracted now. He narrowed his eyes, clenched his hands, watching the dragon's near-insubstantial claws curl into the soft earth. He tossed his head back and _roared_, the sound emerging from his throat as loud and as fierce as any dragon's call. It shook the trees and what little leaves they had left; one hunter let out a wild shriek and raced back the way he'd come. A second, third, fourth followed their comrade, leaving only eight left.

_Eight… _Ido's fingernails bit into his palms. He had to concentrate—had to get rid of them. He lashed wildly at the ground, and faint claw-marks crossed the dirt. Two men peeled away from the rest, no longer so eager to risk their lives. _Six…_

The Rat Dragon's _Hua _pulsed, burned; Ido felt as if the blue dragon was flying above him, but he could offer no quick glance towards the sky. _He was a dragon_, and he had to divert these last stragglers. The world spun slightly and he glared. _Half the pack gone—_

He roared again, and was woefully surprised by the burst of blazing blue fire that scattered the last six hunters, scorching the dirt into black ash.

He lost his grip on the Rat Dragon's _Hua _and the illusion faded, energy quickly lost to the sky. Ido took in a shuddering breath; he could feel the blue dragon's presence at his back. _Thank you_, he offered, no longer able to think of the proper words for thanking a dragon. One sapphire claw lightly brushed his shoulder before lifting away, and he did not have to look up to know the Rat Dragon had rejoined the compass.

The other five halflings appeared from the trees cautiously, with Kygo leading the horse and cart. The Goat halfling had, evidently, been briefed upon what they were doing, because he too climbed up onto the cart with the others. Ido crawled up last, leaning back against the side and closing his eyes. He caught that the Goat halfling's name was Tiro.

And then there was only sweet, blessed nothingness.

* * *

><p><em>Eona was flying high above the clouds, the dragons beside her. The collage of jeweled colors was almost too bright to look upon; she spun in the sky, outstretched wings scything through the remains of a cloud. She laughed, hair flying about in the whirling wind, and the Mirror Dragon echoed her joy, letting out a sibilant howl towards the cloudy sky.<em>

_The Dragon halfling peered down to the land stretched out below her; the brilliant silver lights of _Hua_ were a sea of tiny stars. One by one, she picked out the other halflings, four still scattered, one herself in the sky and one Silvo in the Eastern Tribes, and six others grouped together, still led by the bright silver light of a human._

Six! _Eona stared in surprise. _Half already? They're moving fast! _And they would have two more, once she and Silvo found them. _

_Her gaze was taken from the group of halflings waiting for her by the red silhouette of the Mirror Dragon. Recognizing the call, Eona flapped her wings a few times to rise to the height of the red dragon. "Yes?" she yelled into the wind. "Is there something you have to show me?"_

_The red dragon's eyes gleamed like little rubies. She swung in a wide arc, arrowing away from the rest of the male dragons, her tail flicking at Eona, beckoning her to follow._

_Follow the Dragon halfling did, soaring in the wake of the Mirror Dragon's scarlet wings. They flew over decaying forests and clogged streams. They flew over tiny villages slowly shrinking and cities still bustling as people tried still to fight the death of the land. The mountains grew bigger and bigger in Eona's vision, till she was winging her way past giant peaks that would have towered above her on the ground._

_Still her dragon guide flew on, winding her way down through the maze of peaks, where Eona could see a sudden opening among the peaks' bases. The Mirror Dragon folded her wings and glided down to land neatly on stone, Eona coming down after her, not nearly as graceful as the dragon queen._

_Eona turned in a circle, noting the peculiar nature of this place among the mountains—it was almost a perfect circle carved from the unforgiving stone. The words of prophecy came back to her: _Only when the circle of stones has been washed of the blood of the innocent will life return to power. _"The circle of stones!" she breathed, turning back to the Mirror Dragon excitedly. "You've shown me where—"_

_Her voice cut off as she realized what the dragon was standing beside: a great stone dragon stood at the center of the circle, the lines radiating from the edges converging upon that single point beneath it. The dragon's neck was arched, wings folded at its sides, tail swept up beside its right foreleg. Between its front legs stood a stone bowl, the dragon's claws curled over the edges. Eona stepped closer hesitantly; she had a bad feeling about this place. Reluctantly she peered into the depths of the bowl—_

_—and she recoiled in horror, staring at the rusty red stains that covered the inside of the stone bowl. The stone dragon's eyes were far too harsh as she reeled back to the safety of the Mirror Dragon, _true_ dragon,_ kind_ dragon. "Is that blood?" she gasped, and the great red dragon bowed her head slightly, pearl glittering golden._

_Eona swallowed thickly and turned her gaze from the horrible stone dragon, meeting the red dragon's eyes. "This is where we have to go, isn't it?" she asked, the words weighing heavily in her mouth. "This place…this is the circle of stones that must be washed free of the blood of the innocent." A shiver raced down her spine. She would not forget this place, with the terrible dragon of stone and its bowl of dried blood, waiting to be filled again._

_Waiting for _her_…_

_She shut her eyes, trying to ignore the taint of the place and the thoughts that wormed their way into her brain. She would not forget. The Mirror Dragon's wings raked at the sky, and as the red dragon took off Eona flung herself wholeheartedly into the sky, leaving behind the break in the mountains and the reek of death in the air—_

* * *

><p>—Eona jerked awake, earning the surprise of Ryko, who sat across from her, tending the fire. They had left behind the Eastern tribes, and now the wilderness surrounded them. On Ryko's left and her right was Dela, slumbering away peacefully. On the opposite side was Silvo, though Eona doubted he was asleep; she had seen the glitter of eyes from that corner.<p>

"Something wrong?" Ryko's eyes were kind. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Eona twisted herself upright, stretching out her wings, feeling the aches from sleeping on the ground. "Something like that," she answered quietly, ringing her hands. Ryko studied her for a moment, his wrist flicking occasionally, poking at the embers of their fire with a thin metal rod.

"What was the dream about?"

Eona looked into the fire for a time, gathering her thoughts and her words. How to put it? "I was flying," she began, interlocking her fingers so they wouldn't pick at anything. "I was flying with the dragons…and then the Mirror Dragon called to me; she had something to show me."

Ryko's eyes glittered. A sizzling ember popped free from the fire and he nudged it back in. "Where did she take you?"

"A place in the mountains…" Eona glanced away, looking at the shadows of the trees around them, barely visible in the thick night darkness. She could not see the mountains from here; she suppressed a soft sigh and turned her gaze back to the islander. "She showed me the circle of stones, Ryko. It's where we need to go—I think…I think that is where all of us halflings have to go."

"You think so?" Ryko tilted his head, laying down the fire poker and looking at her.

The Dragon halfling nodded once. "There was this horrible stone dragon there—it looked so…so angry, Ryko—and it had a bowl…" She sucked in a breath, forced herself to continue. "…the bowl had blood in it, dried blood—oh, it was so tainted, that place—surely it must be the circle of stones that needs to be washed of the blood of the innocent! I don't know who or what 'the innocent' is…but whatever they were, if they were innocent they didn't deserve to die in that horrible place! But—that's where we have to go. That's where the rebirth of the land has to happen."

"Where everything began, you think?" A voice spoke from the darkness and Dela eased herself into a sitting position. Silvo turned his head, eyes glowing in the firelight.

"How long have you been awake?" Ryko questioned.

"Long enough," the leader of the Eastern Tribes replied. "Long enough. If you think that this tainted circle of stones in the mountains is where we're headed…then by the dragons, I pray we survive."

"Do you know it?" Eona asked, eyes widening faintly.

Dela's mouth curled into a faint frown. "I do not know its name," she said slowly, unease passing like a shadow across her face. "But I know of it. It is a dangerous place…the worst place for you to be. However…" she sighed, shaking her head. "The Mirror Dragon showed it to you for a reason. And if it is where we must go…then we go." She laughed mirthlessly. "Into the heart of danger, as it is."

The Dragon halfling nodded her head, the words ringing in her mind: _Into the heart of danger. _She looked up into the sky, where she could just barely see the glimmers of the dragons. She closed her eyes, the memory of that terrible mountain circle returning; she clasped her hands and fixed the dragons in her mind's eye.

_Protect us_, she prayed. _Keep us out of harm's way._

_Keep us safe from the heart of danger._


	11. Lead by Dragons to Converging Paths

_Author's Note: _Haha! I DID IT! I updated both of my ongoing stories today! How's _that_ for being generous, _huh_?

…Okay, I'll stop cheering about my own success now. As most of you should know, today is _Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_'s birthday/anniversary/whatever you want to call it, but it is one year old today! So, being the crazy person that I am, seeing as I updated this story yesterday, I chose to be extra-nice and give you a gift for this momentous occasion! …I give you your gift of the eleventh chapter, where everyone meets everyone else, and the chapter most (all?) of you readers have been waiting for…!

Read, enjoy, and don't forget to tell me what you think!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Eleven: Lead by Dragons to Converging Paths_

The Goat halfling, Tiro, turned out to be rather chatty. He was _ever so grateful _to them all for going out of their way to save him from the hunters; but it wasn't really out of the way at all when they needed all the halflings. He did ask how they had gotten a dragon to distract the horde of hunters; no one had yet told him that the dragon had been an illusion on the part of Ido.

Ido himself was still sleeping in the back of the cart, and Kygo was taking him at his word of just going straight. The horse plodded onwards, munching on a bag of oats Kygo had attached to the animal's halter. The cart rolled slowly through the mix of dirt and dust, and silence had fallen upon the halflings, even the newest one.

The Prince Heir of the Celestial Empire glanced backwards, looking over the halflings. The newest addition to their little band, Tiro, had curling goat's horns, fuzzy goat's ears sticking haphazardly from his dark hair and a thin goat's tail curled at his side. They were all looking up into the cloudy sky, as if they could see something coming—or maybe they were just looking at the dragons, Kygo honestly couldn't tell.

They found no other halflings that day, and when the sky began to darken, signaling nightfall was on its way, Kygo called a halt. Someone lit a fire to keep whatever dangerous beasts that waited in the dying forest at bay, and they all settled down to sleep.

Some of the halflings went to sleep quickly, but they all eventually slipped off into the world of dreams, leaving only Kygo staring up at the sky. He stared up at the dark clouds, wondering what had happened since he had left behind the Imperial City. Journeying with the halflings had jarred his sense of time; he wasn't sure how long it had been—only a few days? Could it possibly have been a week?

_No_, he thought, shaking his head to himself. _Not a week. _He did not try to bring the dragons into his focus, having no want for the headache that followed; but he knew they were there. _Are you happy? _he asked the invisible beasts. _Are you glad we've found so many of your children?_

But, alas, there came no answer; however, just before Kygo closed his eyes, he saw a tiny break in the clouds, like a claw had lightly pushed them away. And beyond…

Beyond was the glitter of more than a thousand stars.

Kygo stared up at those visible stars. _This is what we're trying to save_, he thought. He shut his eyes, rolling over, closer to the fire. _This is what we're trying to save…and we will, by the gods._

_We will!_

* * *

><p>The morning dawned early but not so much bright; after putting out the fire and eating some slightly stale loaves of bread Kygo had brought with him, they were off again, winding their way through the dying forest, leaving a line of wheel tracks in the dusty dirt behind them.<p>

"Can you see the other halflings' colors yet?" Kygo muttered to Ido, who was for once not in the back of the cart but the front, peering ahead like he was suspicious something might leap out and attack them. Knowing the hunters, it was a decent conclusion.

"No," the Rat halfling scowled. _Why did the Rat Dragon take away my ability to locate the other halflings? Surely it wants this gathering to happen?_

"So we just keep meandering around like chickens with their heads cut off," Kygo sighed.

Ido's eyes snapped to him. "I didn't ask for the Rat Dragon to do that! It just happened!"

"We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves," came a mutter from the back. Someone else—Bano, from the sounds of it—replied, "Isn't keeping the peace the Rabbit halfling's job?"

"We don't _have _the Rabbit halfling!"

"Quiet, _all of you_!" Kygo grumbled, and the cart bounced over an ill-disguised hole in the ground. The halflings' mutters degenerated into whispered words, and then finally still silence. Ido still stood at the front, eyes trained on the forest still ahead of them.

"Is there something up there we should be worried about?"

Ido flicked an ear. He was not looking at the forest; rather, the silver _Hua_ lights across the land. Most of them were far and few in between the tight clusters of the villages and cities. He cast a glance upwards towards the compass of dragons hovering above. Were they watching now? He had thought he had felt at least the weight of one dragon's gaze on their rickety cart.

He looked forwards once more and felt his eyes widen. Three—no, four silver lights were headed in their direction. And…he squinted; it was difficult to tell from the angle, but…was one of them _flying_?

"There are four people headed our way," he said aloud for Kygo's benefit.

The Prince Heir's eyes narrowed sharply. "Hunters?"

Slowly the Rat halfling shook his head. "I don't think so. It looks like…one of them is flying."

Kygo's head turned to give him the most skeptical expression Ido had ever seen in his life. "That—that's not…not possible…is it?"

"Maybe not for a halfling." Ido scanned the silver lights ahead of them. "They're not too far away…we're probably moving slower than they are."

"You think that whoever they are have a halfling at their disposal?" Kygo stared into the shadows of the forest.

"It's possible. I can't imagine how else they'd be able to find us so quickly."

At the back of his mind, the Rat halfling felt the urge to look up. His unerring gaze found the blue form of the Rat Dragon. The great blue dragon grew in his vision, blue pearl glittering with all the _Hua _at the dragon's command. _What do you want? _Ido thought, staring up at the dragon. He met the beast's depthless eyes as a thought came to him. _You're giving back my sight of the other halflings?_

The Rat Dragon's sapphire claws touched upon the sides of the cart, his head hanging above Ido. The dragon blew out a breath of air that slowly cascaded over the halfling. He caught the whisper of a reply: _See._

The dragons were at once everywhere and yet still hanging in the sky; bursts of color filled Ido's vision and as he stared ahead to those four lights, two that were no longer silver at all, he knew what was coming. A barrage of dragon_ Hua _rolled over him like a wave, and distantly he felt himself slide down the wall of the cart.

_"Ido!" _Kygo's voice was awfully loud, Ido reflected, and then realized someone was shaking him. "What?" he growled out, and Tyron raised his hands innocently. "You were having a fit of some kind."

And then it crashed down on the Rat halfling what he'd seen—the two true silver lights of humans, the pink of the Rabbit halfling…and the gold of the Dragon halfling. "Dragon," he gasped, and Garon's head whipped towards the sky. "Where?"

"No, I mean—" Ido shook his head irritably. "_The Dragon halfling's coming. _And the Rabbit, too."

"Dragon," Bano said faintly. "That's the…female halfling, isn't it?"

"What does that matter?" Chion raised his eyebrows. "She is as powerful as any one of the dragons we descend from. I would advise against angering her."

"Well," Kygo said suddenly, "whatever you think of them…they're coming."

And a silence of another kind fell upon them, a truly uncertain silence, for the dragons were the most powerful beings they knew, and now, to meet a creature on the earth as powerful as any one of the male dragons…

Advise against angering her, indeed.

* * *

><p>Eona winged her way back to Ryko, Dela, and Silvo, tumbling out of the sky with ease. She landed neatly on the dirt in front of Ryko's horse. "Well?" the islander questioned.<p>

"They're up ahead," Eona reported. "Coming this way. We'll converge on their path soon."

"Right." Ryko turned his horse to meet Dela. "We're close."

The Eastern Tribes leader raised her eyebrows. "Good news, then. How many of the other halflings did you say they had already gathered?"

The Dragon halfling paused, glancing back the way she'd come. Blue, purple, white, copper, brown, and a bright silver that was not to be confused with the color of humans' _Hua_, as there was a true human with them and the halfling's silver was much brighter than the human's silver. "Six," she said aloud, returning her gaze to her traveling companions. "They will have eight with Silvo and me."

"Four left, then," Ryko summed up, guiding his horse around a dip in the ground. "And then on to the circle of stones, yes?"

"Yes." Eona paused, looking rapidly to the collage of oncoming halfling lights. Suddenly she realized that although she knew where they were to go, she had no idea what they were expected to do there. She said this aloud, and Ryko and Dela exchanged a glance of confusion that did not help matters at all. Then Silvo spoke, for only the second time Eona had heard him:

"If they're gathering halflings too, they might know what we're supposed to do in the end."

"Or," Dela suggested, hawk-like eyes bright with suspicion, "they could know just about the same as us."

"We received the words of prophecy," Eona muttered, flicking at a speck of dirt with her tail. "I don't…the Mirror Dragon basically told Rilla and Chart to tell me, and if the others haven't met them, then…they probably don't know."

"Shall we go to meet them?" Dela spurred her horse onwards, Ryko matching her speed, Silvo trailing behind. Eona lifted off again, beating her wings against the wind and shooting past the other three. She spiraled through the trees, one wingtip disintegrating an already crumbling branch. And then she saw them, not with the dragon-sight, but with her own eyes.

They were all piled in a cart that looked like it wasn't built to hold many more of them, from the looks of it. The single human, from her recollection of the _Hua_ lights, was the one driving the cart, guiding the single horse down the little dirt road. Eona squinted. She could see the Rat halfling, the Dog halfling, the Snake halfling, the Ox halfling, the Goat halfling, and the Rooster halfling all sitting in the back. It was still strange to see so many at once; it was rare, she knew, for halflings to cross paths in the natural world.

The Dragon halfling folded her wings and arrowed over the trees, swooping down past a break in the branches and landed squarely in front of the cart horse.

The horse didn't take too kindly to that, and Eona half-thought it was stamping its hooves because it had a wish to swat at her, as horses were wont to do when flying things came around. She stepped carefully around the horse and met the eyes of one human and six halflings, all staring.

Finally the human spoke. "So you're the Dragon halfling."

His face looked vaguely familiar, like a picture she had seen once. Who had it been of? She bowed neatly, at the same time drudging up the memory. "My name is Eona." She paused for a fraction of a second, eyes skating across the other halflings to the human as she said, only slightly uncertainly, "Prince Heir?"

The human sighed heavily. "Call me Kygo," he said, now turning to the six halflings. "The Rat is Ido. The Ox is Tyron, the Goat is Tiro, the Dog is Garon, the Rooster is Bano, and the Snake is Chion."

"Greetings," she murmured, inclining her head. At that moment Ryko, Dela, and Silvo appeared from the forest, and Eona did not mind the dust that sprayed up from their horses' hooves.

"These are my traveling companions," the Dragon halfling said with her best flourish. "Ryko, who traveled with me from my home village; Dela, who is the leader of the Eastern Tribes, and Silvo, the Rabbit halfling." She was somewhat surprised that none made mention of Dela's standing, but thought that at this point it wasn't entirely necessary, considering most of them were rather despised by the people of the Celestial Empire.

"Eight," Kygo said, with no small measure of impression. "This is happening faster than I thought. Only four more till the Spirit Dance can be performed."

Eona fastened onto the unfamiliar words. "Spirit Dance?" The words, like her little prophecy, had a ring to them.

The halflings all exchanged glances of varying confusion. "We're not sure what it is," Garon admitted, dog's ears twitching. "But it's supposed to save the land," Bano shrugged half-heartedly.

_They _do_ know what to do, even if they don't know exactly how to do it! _Eona's heart swelled. "You won't have to look much farther," she smiled. "For I know our final destination."

"You do?" Ido raised one eyebrow skeptically.

The Dragon halfling nodded. "The Mirror Dragon showed me. I am—reasonably certain I can get us there. Once we have all the halflings, we can go."

"Where is this place, exactly?" Kygo asked, tipping his head to one side.

Eona laced he fingers together for lack of something to do with them. "I don't know if it has a name," she said carefully, watching their reactions. "It is a gigantic circle of stone carved from the bases of several mountains. At the center—"

"—is a stone dragon with a bowl filled with blood," Chion finished for her, and she felt her eyes widen. "You've been there?"

"I've seen it from a distance." The Snake halfling crossed his arms. "We really are diving right from the pan into the fire, aren't we?"

_The heart of danger_. Dela's words came back to Eona. "What do you mean? What is the circle of stones?"

Chion smiled grimly, eyes glittering. "You may not recognize the name, but the others here will."

Garon paled. "You're not going to say—"

"Xsu-Tou Pass," Chion said, not at all smugly.

And horrified silence fell.


	12. Dragon's Children Gathering Together

_Author's Note_: Yes, I am well aware that this is late. I could say real life is annoying me, which is true. I could say I got distracted by other plot ideas, which is also true. I could say school has been giving me too much homework—ah, that's partially true in some cases. Still, I'm not about to let this story die when we've only got about four more chapters to it! I will try my hardest to update within the next two weeks, as I am nearly done with _Star Dancer_'s tenth chapter which will then switch my focus to _Half the Power_'s thirteenth chapter. Note I said—wrote—"try"; this is by no means a guarantee.

That being said, if I do manage to update next week…consider it your early birthday present (or late, as the case may be)

* * *

><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Twelve: Dragon's Children Gathering Together_

Kygo scanned the faces of the newcomers; none of them seemed to recognize the name, or at least, not for what it stood for now. His suspicions were confirmed when Dela spoke up, her eyes narrowed. "What does Xsu-Tou Pass have to do with the gathering of the halflings?"

"It has become a place of evildoing," Chion replied, having been the only one of them to actually have been close to the place, aside from Eona—but she had mentioned she'd visited the pass in a dream, so that wasn't quite the same, either. "You have heard of the halfling hunters, haven't you?"

The Dragon halfling's eyes widened sharply. "You don't mean—the awful people who wanted to sacrifice me to the dragons for whatever horrible reason?"

"Exactly," the Snake halfling nodded. "Xsu-Tou Pass is their lair, their most sacred place. It is there they, in their misguided ways, attempt to bring about the rebirth of the land through the killing of halflings and using their blood as the catalyst."

"Where would they get such an awful idea?" Eona blinked rapidly, her wings fluttering at her shoulders.

"No one knows," Kygo answered, shrugging. "It's a mystery I'd rather leave unsolved, for that matter. And if we can avoid the hunters, well, all the better."

"And we have to go there?" Ryko looked upwards into the sky, as if searching for the dragons. The islander heaved a long sigh, rolling his shoulders. "For the sake of the land…"

"For the sake of the land," Kygo agreed quietly. "We will have to try and avoid the hunters as we search for the last four halflings." He paused, uncertainty flashing across his face. "They are all still _alive_, aren't they?"

"They'd be born again if they were killed," Ido pointed out.

"Babies can't perform the Spirit Dance, not even halflings can perform feats of walking and talking hours after birth," Kygo countered, to which the Rat halfling snorted but raised his eyes to the sky, locking his gaze on the iridescent dragons hovering there; slowly he shifted his eyes to the shimmering world laid out beneath the great beasts. Their group of halflings was like a blazing star of many different colors, but they were not what he wanted—he looked further, to those lights at the edges of his vision, dyed the color of a dragon's _Hua_.

_One, two, three…four!_

He withdrew back to himself, dropping his gaze from the murky clouds above. "There's still four outside of us," he reported. "The Monkey, Horse, Tiger, and Pig halflings remain living, for now."

"Good." Kygo turned his eyes to Eona and her company. "You'll come along, then, even knowing where we're headed?"

The Dragon halfling dipped her head in assent. "You need all of us," she replied, her wings unfurling to their full length, nearly as long as Eona was tall. "Of course we shall follow you. This 'Spirit Dance' will save the land, won't it?"

"We _hope_ it will," Tyron spoke up from the cart.

"We'll just have to get there and see what happens," Bano decided, draping himself across the back of the cart. "Off we go, then, yes?"

Kygo gave an absentminded nod, climbing back into the driver's seat, taking hold of the horse's reins. Dela, Ryko, and Silvo turned their horses around so they were facing the same direction, albeit paced more forwards than the cart full of halflings. Eona lifted off from the ground, soaring straight up above the level of the trees and hovering there, wings beating, her head turning from side to side as if she were scanning the route ahead. Suddenly she lifted a hand, pointing somewhat north-northwest of their position. "Dark-colored—the Monkey halfling's not too far away!"

Ido clambered back over the side of the cart, sliding in next to Garon. "Does she mean in terms of flying or riding?" he muttered dryly.

"Doesn't matter," Kygo replied, coaxing the horse into a quick trot. "The sooner we find all the halflings, the better."

The Rat halfling gave a harrumph but did not say anything else as the other three on their horses kept pace with the cart easily. A silence hung over them, the kind of silence when one contemplated what it would be like in the future, be it they did manage to bring about the rebirth of the land through the Spirit Dance, what kind of recognition they might receive.

The dying forest was falling away, the bitter winds blowing across the ashy plains having felled any outlying trees no longer strong enough to stand. Eroding rocks dotted the ground, some little more than pebbles strewn across the ground. Kygo squinted, studying the barren land. Eona came swooping down to lightly land beside the cart horse. "There," she said softly, pointing discreetly towards an outcropping of rocks, where if the human tilted his head just right, he could see the faintest flicker of movement.

They were being watched.

"Won't he see us coming and run away, regardless of the fact that the vast majority of us are halflings?" Tyron raised an eyebrow.

"No one on foot is faster than flight," Eona flexed her wings carefully. "I might be able to convince him to follow me, but I'm not sure I can explain the Spirit Dance to him."

"If you can get him over here, we'll do the rest," Kygo decided, nodding once. The Dragon halfling gave a nod before leaping into the air, spiraling up into the gritty clouds. The earthbound halflings and humans watched in silence as the female halfling's shadow flitted through the clouds, tiny plumes of ash trickling down onto the barren plain. All at once she dove from the cloud cover and shot straight down, disappearing behind the cluster of rocks.

"Think she can do it?" Bano questioned, tipping his head to one side.

"It's possible," Garon muttered, kicking idly at a pebble near his toes. "Then again, the Monkey halfling could try running away, or hiding, and I'd bet he knows that rock better than she does."

"Always so depressing, aren't you, Garon?" The Goat halfling butted in—he didn't really have any room to talk considering he'd only met them a day ago. The Dog halfling surprisingly stoutly ignored that remark concerning his attitude and the halflings all focused their eyes back onto the scene at hand.

Eona lifted off from the rock, though instead of flying back to them, she glided down to the base of the outcropping and waited; shortly after a faint shape darted from the lip of the rock and clambered down beside the Dragon halfling. Eona led the way back across the plain, dragon's attributes starkly rendered beside the Monkey halfling's profile of wide ears and a curling tail flicking behind him.

"This is Jessam, the Monkey halfling," Eona announced. "Jessam, these are my traveling companions—Ido, the Rat halfling; Tyron, the Ox halfling; Garon, the Dog halfling; Chion, the Snake halfling; Bano, the Rooster halfling; Tiro, the Goat halfling; Silvo, the Rabbit halfling; Ryko, the islander; Dela, leader of the Eastern Tribes; and Kygo, Prince Heir of the Empire."

"Welcome," Kygo said, inclining his head slightly. "As you may have been told already, we are on a mission to revitalize the land. I was told of an ancient form known as the Spirit Dance which was implied to me to be the way you halflings can bring about the land's rebirth. As it stands, we already have eight of the twelve halflings, and the land grows worse every day. Will you join us?"

"Join you?" Jessam echoed, dark eyes widening. "To save the land?"

"Yes," Bano chipped in, stretching his arms out. "No one will dare mistreat the ones who saved their sorry behinds!"

The Monkey halfling hesitated. "There is nothing for you on that rock," Chion supplied, crossing his arms. "Nothing binds you to this place; why not join us and cast your lot to be known forever as the ones who saved the Empire from dying a long, slow death?"

Slowly, Jessam nodded. "Put like that…yes. Yes, I will follow you to wherever it is you intend to perform this…Spirit Dance."

"Good," Kygo smiled; nine now. Three left…soon, the circle would be complete. "Hold on," Tyron spoke up, casting a look over the cart. "I don't know about the rest of you, but with six of us in here it's getting crowded. I'm not sure we could fit seven and still hope to keep ourselves from falling out at every bounce over a pothole."

"Someone can ride on one of the horses with Ryko, Dela, or Silvo," Chion suggested.

"I'm staying in the cart," Ido declared, scrambling up and claiming his place close to the front. "You won't get me on one of those things." He eyed the cart horse suspiciously; it stamped a hoof and snorted, and Ido gave it a _look _in response.

"I suppose I could go," Tiro volunteered, shrugging. "Doesn't matter either way to me."

"Then Jessam, you'll be in the cart with the rest of them," Kygo said, taking his place in the driver's seat, looping the reins through his hands. The six halflings piled back into the cart, leaving Tiro to ride with Silvo. Eona vanished into the sky again, circling above them, no longer looking for the other halflings. And so they set off in a vaguely northern direction, as Ido directed that the last three lights had all been somewhat in that direction.

The ashy plain with its eroding rocks soon vanished behind the rolling foothills that preceded the beginning of the mountains. Kygo looked ahead to the looming monoliths of stone—somewhere in there, he knew, laid their destination. It wouldn't be easy getting there, with twelve halflings in tow and headed for the heart of halfling hunter territory—but it was where the Dragon halfling had seen they had to be.

_Xsu-Tou Pass._

He turned his thoughts away from what might happen in the future; he focused on their surroundings, finding himself surprised, as the foothills were in better condition than anything Kygo had seen yet—the ground was still covered with sparse grass that, though scraggly, held up beneath the hooves of the horses and the wheels of the cart. Tiny prickly bushes dotted the landscape here and there; it was as if the blight had yet to quite reach this part of the land.

A bush wiggled off to the left.

Kygo's eyes flashed to it in an instant; as they passed it he glanced over the top, but there wasn't anything there. He returned his gaze to the hills ahead, telling himself, _You only imagined it. I highly doubt the hunters would be skulking around in the dirt, considering what we've seen of them thus far._

A bush wriggled closer to them.

"What's over there, Ido?" the Prince Heir muttered out of the side of his mouth; the Rat halfling squinted, his amber eyes misting over with strands of silver-blue. After a moment he sat back, shaking his head. "Not hunters. Just one overly-curious halfling."

"Another one?" Kygo's eyes widened imperceptibly. "Which one?"

"Orange—it's the Horse halfling. Don't ask me why he's running around through the bushes. Probably thinks he's being rather clever, making it appear like we don't know he's following us." Ido's eyes narrowed. He leaned forwards, calling, "You can quit pretending to hide, Horse!"

A head poked from the nearest bush, dark hair overshadowed by a slim pair of horse's ears. "Must you ruin my fun?" he called, rising to his feet, crawling free of the bush.

"You weren't fooling anyone," Ido informed him loftily. "If this is your idea of fun, I'd hate to see what it's like if you get serious over anything."

The Horse halfling grinned. "Well said, well said! But truly, you are quite the interesting bunch! What kind of humans voluntarily travel with halflings—and so many halflings, at that?"

Kygo sighed inwardly; after saying variations of it nine times already, the speech was beginning to get old. Still, it had to be said. "We have learned of a way to save the Empire from its death," he answered. "This way requires the participation of all twelve halflings in something known only as the 'Spirit Dance'. We already know our destination, and we already have nine of the twelve halflings gathered. You are needed too, Horse. Will you come with us? By the end of this, you won't have to skulk around in bushes—unless of course that's what you like doing," he added belatedly.

"Nah," the Horse halfling waved a hand offhandedly. "You just have to be careful around hunter territory, you know? Have to be sneaky."

"If that's your definition of sneaky," Ido muttered under his breath just loud enough for Kygo to hear him, "then I'm surprised as to why you haven't been captured by the hunters yet."

The Horse halfling either ignored him or hadn't heard him; dark eyes focused on Kygo. "You're sure this 'Spirit Dance' will save the land?"

"I believe so, yes, but I can't offer a guarantee," Kygo admitted. "However, I will say this: the Spirit Dance is our best hope of success. I ask again—will you come with us and take your place in the circle?"

"My name is Dram," the Horse halfling said, tapping his chin. "And…I suppose I must. Better than crawling through the mud, that's for sure!" He laughed. "All the same, we must have the circle, yes? And who would stand for the Horse Dragon if not me?"

"Good point," Kygo nodded. He turned his gaze briefly to the sky, where he could bring into focus the circling blobs of color he knew to be the dragons. _Are you watching us? _he thought, staring up at them, willing himself to hold them in his gaze just a little longer. _We have ten of your children gathered already. _

_Two more halflings and the Spirit Dance begins._

_Only two more…_


	13. Dragon's Dawn Drawing Closer

_Author's Note: _*crawls out from under a rock* Hey everybody, remember me? *crickets chirp* Well…I know it's been a long time—almost two months… And I really have no excuse. Real life _did_ catch up with me, and I had to do a lot of college stuff, go to Orientation, send in a bunch of crap, had to do a bunch of projects and papers for school, but I still had some time to laze around, so I really don't have an excuse. I wasn't all that motivated to write, and considering this chapter has one of the most action-y scenes this story is going to get…it's pretty sad. I hope some of you are still reading this, it _is_ my most popular story after all, in both reviews and number of hits/visitors/statistic measure things. I hope some of you are still reading because this story is also on its final legs—three more chapters to go, and _Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_ will come to an end. I hope you'll be satisfied with the ending I've planned, and, on the bright side, I _am_ on Spring Break though, so once I finish _Star Dancer_'s next chapter I may be able to update this again this week. Who knows, I might be motivated enough to _finish_ it this week, too!

Anyways, please read and enjoy this (far too late) chapter!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Thirteen: Dragon's Dawn Drawing Closer_

"Only two left," Bano squinted towards the sky. "The…Tiger and Pig halflings left now, yes?"

"Correct," Kygo nodded. "And we want to find them as quickly as we can. Ido, where are the last two?"

The Rat halfling lifted his head, focusing upwards; it was a long moment before his vision shimmered into the mind-sight, the brilliant colors of the dragons above far brighter than the halflings' own cluster of dragons' _Hua _colors. When he cast his vision across the sea of flickering silver lights, the final two halflings were far too easy to find. The green of the Tiger Dragon's halfling was closest, though not by far, buried within a group of silver lights at the edge of the mountains. Further on in, within the thick stone of the mountains, there was the last halfling, the dove-gray color of the Pig Dragon's descendent.

"They're somewhat close," the Rat halfling announced. "Tiger's in a village near the beginning of the mountains, and the Pig's somewhere in the range itself."

Kygo gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Towards the mountains, then."

"And Xsu-Tou Pass," Chion felt the need to remind all of them; Dram, the newest to their motley bunch and who had yet to learn of their true destination, sat up in surprise, eyes widening and horse's ears flattening against his head. "We're all going _there_?" The Monkey halfling too, who had not heard prior where they were eventually going, shrank back against the side of the cart, whispering, "Xsu-Tou Pass…?" in a wavering voice.

"Yes." The Snake halfling's voice brooked no argument.

"The place where all the hunters gather, who, need I remind you, are out for all the halflings' blood?" Dram raised an eyebrow pointedly.

"Yes," Chion nodded, his voice evening into a monotone.

"The place where we're all supposed to, according to hunter tradition, be sacrificed in order to regain the favor of the dragons?" Dram's eyes flicked from halfling to halfling, but no one said anything to contradict Chion's words.

"Exactly."

"…Why in the name of the dragons would we be going there? _We're all going to die_!"

Jessam entered the conversation now, white-faced. "We would be ripe pickings for the hunters, especially since we're all in a group like this…"

"Hey now," Bano interjected, "we've already got somebody who believes we're going to all die anyways, we don't need more!"

"It's a reasonable assumption," Garon mumbled, crossing his arms and giving Bano an annoyed look. " 'Learn from the past', they say—well, the hunters have killed an awful lot of halflings, and we're offering ourselves up on a silver platter, being in such a large group! Why _wouldn't_ they take the opportunity?"

"We're going to Xsu-Tou Pass," Chion interrupted, returning to the topic at hand, "because the Dragon halfling received an omen from the dragons that the pass is to be our final destination and the location of the performance of the Spirit Dance."

Dram was quiet a long moment, glancing forwards towards the forbidding shadows of the mountains against the dusty gray sky. Jessam hesitated, blinking rapidly. "Xsu-Tou Pass," he said finally, idly plucking at his tail. He looked up at them, shrugging. "…You can't say we didn't try our best, going against an army of halfling hunters, to restore the land to prosperity."

"That's the way to think!" Bano cheered; then paused. "Hang on; you're implying we're going to _die_ in the process!"

Jessam shrugged again. "We can't be sure that the hunters won't kill us, and nobody knows what the Spirit Dance _does_. It might take our _lives_ in return for healing the land. Even then…" His eyes flicked across each of the halflings. "Who's to say that we're the first to hear about the Spirit Dance? Who's to say we're the first to try saving the land through halfling power?"

Anxious silence reigned; Kygo offered, "Surely we would have heard something about it before, then, if we were not the first?"

"Not necessarily," Chion muttered darkly. "The hunters may have smothered any and all rumors concerning a chance to save the Empire through halfling power. Although…considering they do sacrifice halflings to the dragons in their attempts to save the land…it's possible the message they have is—garbled, somewhat, so that instead of halfling power, they believe it is through halfling blood that the Empire will be revived."

"…Looking at how many halflings we already have…" Tyron rapped his knuckles against the wooden slat along the side of the cart. The Ox halfling sighed heavily. "We should be able to get the last two, since they're so close; we'll probably even get to Xsu-Tou Pass. After that…I'd say we either have the chance of ultimate victory, performing the Spirit Dance at the stone circle and bringing the land through rebirth…or the ultimate defeat, slaughtered by the hunters and all twelve halflings' blood offered to the stone dragon."

"What do you think would happen then?" Tiro supposed; the Goat halfling looked thoughtful.

Kygo studied the mountains for a long heartbeat. "I think…" he began, and felt the weight of several stares. "…if all twelve halflings were killed at the same time…the land might never recover. Dragons' blood spilled to that extent… Even the cycle of the halflings might be affected—or maybe even the dragons, too."

"The cycle could be broken…" Ido mumbled, casting a furtive glance towards the dark shapes on the horizon. "…the cycle of the _dragons_…"

A blanket of stunned silence settled over the group—for what kind of world would it be like, without the powerful force of dragons' _Hua_ to move the land?

_If there were no dragons…_

…_everything would change._

Thinking of that possible, worst future kept them in silence, until Ido raised his eyes to the sky, shifting into the mind-sight. The Rat halfling could see that just over the next hill was a cluster of silver _Hua_ lights—a village, surely—and the jarringly bright green _Hua_ of the Tiger Dragon's descendant in their midst.

"_He's_ _close_."

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><p>They approached cautiously, Kygo halting the horse and cart at the foot of the hill and the halflings climbed out, each scrambling up to the top to peer over, careful to keep low.<p>

The village was just like any other in the region; constructed of sparse timber and stone quarried from the mountains, the houses had degraded into more ramshackle huts, but there was still plenty of evidence to suggest that even if the original inhabitants no longer wandered the streets, that the village was still in use.

Small puffs of smoke rose from a few dilapidated chimneys; a small herd of horses was corralled into a little pasture fringed with sparse pale green grass. Faint shadows crossed windowpanes, silhouettes carrying varieties of weaponry. And at the center of the village, chained to a post squarely in view of all the houses, was the Tiger halfling. His ears and tail weren't as bright orange-and-black as they should have been, muddied from dirt, and the relative brown and pale gray of the surroundings served only to make the dark stripe markings on the halfling's arms and legs stand out.

Bano whistled low under his breath. "Certainly making it difficult for us, eh?"

Kygo hummed noncommittally, taking in the scene. "It's hard to tell how many hunters there are, but from how many houses are occupied…there can't be _too_ many, but we still have to be careful. 'The closer you come to victory, the easier it is to fall', as they say. I think I've got a plan. Ido, are your illusions capable of rendering someone invisible?"

"Invisible?" the Rat halfling questioned, eyes narrowing. "…Never occurred to me, but…I suppose."

"We'll say you can for the sake of the moment. Now, this is the plan: Dela, Ryko, and I ride in first, as a distraction; the hunters won't bother us as they will be able to tell we are completely human. Garon, you're good at tunneling, yes? You'll burrow under the ground and come up next to the Tiger halfling, tell him to be ready to run. Ido, since you've never done it before, I'm only going to ask you to make Eona invisible; you, Eona, will fly over the village and land next to the Tiger halfling and untie him. Meanwhile, Tyron, you'll drive the cart through and gather up Garon and the Tiger halfling, while the rest of you—Tiro, Jessam, Bano, Dram, Chion, and Silvo—will commune with the dragons and use their power to protect the cart so the hunters can't use this opportunity to capture you."

"Couldn't Ido just make the whole cart invisible?" Jessam wondered aloud.

"I'd rather not push our luck." Kygo glanced back. "Everyone knows what to do, correct?"

The halflings and remaining humans nodded in unison.

"Then let's go."

Kygo, Dela, and Ryko climbed onto the three loose horses, while the halflings scrambled into the cart, Tyron sitting in front, gripping the reins. Garon slipped around the base of the hill and disappeared into the ground, leaving behind only a small mound of dirt displaced from his tunnel.

Kygo trotted his horse up the hill, Dela and Ryko quick to follow after, scattering across the village. The remaining halflings assembled at the edge of the cart, each focusing upwards onto the invisible figures of the jewel-bright dragons hovering in their circle. The Rat halfling, meanwhile, sat in the center, or as close to it as he could get considering the cart was rectangular; faint blue _Hua _flashed around the Dragon halfling before her very image seemed to distort, and then it was as if she had never been there, save for the imprints of her feet upon the grass.

A soft breeze brushed past them as Eona took off, the slightest ripple in the air the only sign of her passage across the sky. Tyron sidled the cart up close to the top of the hill, peering down the other side into the village. Kygo was to the far right, talking earnestly with a tall man; Dela was closer to the Tiger halfling, with the ruse of giving her horse water from a trough set up; to the far left was Ryko, exchanging words with an older, graying man.

There was a tiny mound of dirt beside the Tiger halfling's pole, and as Tyron watched the edge of a dog ear poked out of it, the other halfling tilting his head just slightly, as if listening. The barely-there ripple that was Eona stirred up a faint shower of dust as she landed behind the Tiger halfling.

The Ox halfling glanced back as the wind began to pick up, moving in slowly to circle around the cart. "Good," he murmured, dark eyes shifting forwards again. "Just a little more…"

The cart horse stamped a hoof and neighed nervously, the wind escalating, the village dissolving into a myriad of dark blurs. A steady whine screeched in Tyron's ears; he spurred the horse into action, knowing enough was enough, and that the level of _Hua _the other halflings were exuding couldn't be controlled for very long.

The horse plunged down the hill, dragging the cart into a bouncing slide. Tyron and the other halflings were in the eye of their own personal whirlwind; outside the cry of the wind he heard vague shouts—"By the dragons, what _is_ that!" "It's the dragons!" "What is this treachery?"—but he paid them no attention; the hunters could scramble all they wanted, as long as they weren't trying to kill the halflings.

Snapping wood caught the Ox halfling's attention and he halted the horse, looking down at the remains of the pole. Crouched beside it were Garon, half out of his tunnel, the Tiger halfling, freed from his bonds, and Eona, no longer cloaked by the Rat dragon's illusion.

"Climb in," was all Tyron said, and the Tiger halfling squeezed in with the others, Garon deciding there wasn't enough room in the back and took the second seat up front. Eona hovered in the air above the cart, unwilling to chance flying out through the winds. With all on board, Tyron steered the cart past the remaining houses, the speed of their dragon-made whirlwind faltering as they neared the mountains—which were suddenly looming over them, dark shadows stretching across the ground, much closer than they had seemed before.

The whirlwind broke down completely when the sound of hoofbeats reached them; Kygo, Dela, and Ryko were riding swiftly in their wake, the hunters beginning to gather, some reaching for horses.

"They're following us!" came a call from the back; Tyron couldn't tell which halfling it came from.

"We'll just have to lose them in the mountains!" Kygo yelled, his horse cantering up beside the cart. "There's a pass just ahead, we can take it and try to find another path!"

All of the halflings seemed to hold their breath as the cart and its escort of three horses and riders passed through the walls of stone, the horses' hooves clattering all too loudly across the rocky ground. The cart was bouncing over the uneven terrain, nearly threatening to spill out its passengers at one too-fast turn. The hunters soon disappeared behind the thick mountain stone, their voices and horses' hoofbeats fading into stark silence.

Kygo halted his horse, signaling the others to do the same, and strained his ears, listening for any sounds of pursuit.

The only thing he could hear was the sound of the wind whistling through the mountain peaks.

"Ido, did they follow us?" he asked quietly after another long moment of silence; the Rat halfling squinted, searching out the pack of silver lights closest to them—and he was surprised to find that indeed, the hunters had not followed them through the pass. "They're heading back to the village," he said aloud, voice filled with disbelief.

"Why would they let us go?" Garon whispered, eyes shifting about like he expected hunters to erupt from the shadows at any moment.

Kygo sighed heavily. "Because we're right where they want us," he answered slowly, and heads turned towards him in confusion. He lifted a hand, tracing the outline of the pass in the air. "From what I remember of the maps of the Empire, there's only a few passes with recorded villages outside, and only one has this particular shape…it's also supposed to lead to a clearing within the mountains, shaped like a perfect circle."

Gasps of horror echoed around the group; Chion stood, eyes narrowed against the wind, staring up ahead of them as if he could see past the twisting stone to the circle beyond, with its malicious stone dragon and its bowl, waiting to be filled with their blood, halfling blood.

"So we're here at last…Xsu-Tou Pass."


	14. Dragon's Circle Now Complete

_Author's Note_: So, this chapter is slightly late, but I'm uploading this in honor of my upcoming eighteenth birthday and my graduation from high school. I made the effort to get it out now, because I won't have any time later. I could have waited until tomorrow, but I thought you guys have waited long enough for the next chapter, so I gave it to you.

Remember, only two more chapters left until _Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_ is over! Enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Fourteen: Dragon's Circle Now Complete_

_"So we're here at last…Xsu-Tou Pass."_

Those words hung in the air; for a long heartbeat no one spoke—it seemed like no one _breathed_. Kygo sighed heavily, breaking the silence. "We move forwards," he said, eyeing the eleven halflings they had gathered. _One halfling left… _He peered upwards, to where the fuzzy shapes of the dragons lurked; his eyes picked out the dove-gray of the Pig Dragon, the only one of the dragons whose descendant had yet to have been found.

There came a soft muttering of agreement—they would finish what they started, even if it meant their lives in exchange for the rebirth of the land. Kygo turned expectantly to Ido. "Where's the Pig halfling?"

The Rat halfling turned a searching gaze towards the cloudy sky. His eyes narrowed, picking out the slightly darker gray light amidst a cluster of silvers far up ahead. In the energy world, the view of the land was not quite as clear, but he knew enough to tell exactly where the Pig halfling was.

"Just up ahead," he answered, crossing his arms. "The hunters have him. I think they intend to sacrifice him soon."

Narrowed-eyed glances were swiftly exchanged amongst the halflings. Tyron muttered, "Without the halfling to represent the Pig Dragon, how can we hope to complete the Spirit Dance?"

"We just have to get there first," Kygo said wearily; someone mumbled from the group of halflings _"Handing ourselves up on a silver platter" _but no one said anything more on the matter. They had committed, when they had first agreed to come and perform the Spirit Dance; while it was true, none of them had known they were meant to travel to Xsu-Tou Pass—they were here nonetheless.

And they were so close—could they really be going to watch victory be snatched away, after everything they'd done?

_No_, Kygo thought to himself. _We wouldn't have been told of the Spirit Dance unless the dragons thought we actually have a chance to stop this. _He urged the horse onwards, the cart's creaking wheels and the soft taps of the horses' hooves the only sound in their little section of the pass for several long minutes.

"How many hunters, Ido?" he asked, and the Rat halfling squinted, his fingers twitching as if he was counting them mentally. "…Thirteen…no…fifteen…no, wait, three more just showed up—eighteen, for the moment."

Kygo sighed—well, no one ever said it was going to be easy.

"So what's the plan?" Tyron asked from somewhere in the back; the Prince Heir sighed again. "If there are eighteen hunters…I don't know. I don't even know how the Spirit Dance is supposed to start."

"I suppose…we'll know it when it starts to happen?" Bano offered with a shrug; Ido's tail twitched as he looked on ahead. "Whatever we're going to do, we best get there, because it looks like they're trying to get him into the center."

"Where the stone dragon is!" Eona breathed, and the Dragon halfling's wings half-spread, as if she intended to fly off into the sky, hunt down the pass, and try to take out the hunters by herself.

Kygo nodded absently and snapped the reins, the cart horse leaping into a canter and urging the other horses to follow. The cart's wheels bounced over the mountain track, and several halflings voiced their indignation; Ryko's horse drew level with the side of the cart as the islander called, "They'll be able to hear us before we reach them!"

Kygo kept his eyes fixed ahead. "I'm counting on that," he replied, squinting and glancing sharply upwards, surprised to note that the dragons seemed closer than before—or perhaps his dragon-sight was improving, being in the company of so many halflings. Either way… _It's the Spirit Dance_, something at the back of his mind whispered. _They're coming for the Spirit Dance!_

He only prayed there would still be twelve halflings left for it to begin.

"Get ready!" he yelled back to the halflings as they rounded a corner with a clatter of hooves and a creaking of the wheels; the cart wasn't built for racing around through the mountains, the axles groaning under the abuse—Kygo hoped it would hold for a few moments longer, because if he remembered the pass's shape correctly, they were almost to the stone circle.

The site of the Spirit Dance.

Their ultimate victory, or their ultimate defeat, as Tyron had said.

Kygo tilted his head back and found the eyes of the Mirror Dragon, closer than ever, hovering at a point just above the peaks of the mountains. The queen dragon's eyes offered no encouragement, just a watchful air—like she was waiting for them. The eleven male dragons clustered behind her, and Kygo got the feeling the dragons were positioned high above the stone circle.

The close-by flap of wings alerted him to Eona's takeoff, just as they rounded another corner into wide open air.

The horse's hooves rang loudly against the stone, sparks dancing away in their wake. Kygo caught sight of the Pig halfling—he could be no other, with the pig's ears and pig's tail contrasting with his dark hair—and a group of hunters, their faces ranging from surprise to glee to fear; the ominous stone dragon loomed before them, and Kygo couldn't stop the cart in time.

The cart, battered from the abuse it had taken throughout their journey, could not withstand the impact of colliding with the stone statue—which, to Kygo's regret, remained perfectly upright—and the axles broke, the wheels rolling off in different directions, the body of the cart listing and turning on its side, the wood cracking and broken, as halflings spilled onto the stone.

Kygo rolled with the impact, landing roughly on his hands and knees—he thought he rolled right over someone's tail, too, but at that moment that wasn't the most pressing of his concerns. The hunters had regrouped, the ones holding onto the Pig halfling having scampered back to their comrades. The last halfling came hurrying over to them, shrugging out of the frayed ropes that had kept him captive. "What are all of you doing here?"

"We're here to save the land," Bano informed him, in a somewhat exaggerated tone, while eyeing their enemies. "What's your name, Pig?"

"Meram," the last halfling answered, eyes darting amongst them. "And who are all of you?"

Kygo introduced them all; as he did so, the Prince Heir glanced towards the sky, squinting sharply to bring the dragons into focus—and he felt the dragons should have blocked out the sun, they were so close. He could almost feel the blasts of air from their wings; the Mirror Dragon was still in the lead, her great red body coiled roughly over the center of the circle.

Her eyes seemed to say, _Soon_.

Kygo glanced back and saw the hunters had crowded nervously at the edge of the circle, some pointing up and gesturing wildly, bur Kygo couldn't hear their words—_All the better_, he thought to himself—and wondered what they thought, about the arrival of all the halflings, and how the dragons were only a few lengths above the ground.

The ground shivered, and the stone dragon rocked slightly. Eona landed on the statue, feet finding purchase against the protruding shoulders and the curled wings of the statue. The Dragon halfling's eyes were alight, but she said nothing, her hair flying about her head in the sudden wind, though she kept her eyes on the sky, as if waiting, too.

With a roar that was started halfway silent, the blue Rat Dragon burst into visibility, great wings battering the stone as he landed squarely on the north-northwest portion of the circle. The hunters had gone into a frenzy, screeching incoherent words at the dragon, but the beast paid them no mind, roaring again, sending a blaze of blue flame ascending towards the clouds.

Soon to follow was the purple Ox Dragon, taking his compass point at the north. The circle shuddered again as the violet dragon landed and folded his wings sharply. The Rat Dragon bugled a greeting to him, claws scraping across the stone. The Ox Dragon returned the call, tossing his head up, his pearl becoming visible for the briefest moment.

Another roar sounded and the Tiger Dragon broke through to the earthly plane, his green body glittering in the pale light. He took his place beside the Ox Dragon, at the north-northeast compass point. A long green tail lashed against the ground, sending a spray of dirt in the hunters' direction; Kygo stifled a laugh as they ran for cover, yelling at one another all the while.

The pink Rabbit Dragon's entrance was quieter than his fellows, but still loud to a human or halfling's ears; the light-colored dragon winged his way over their heads to his compass point, east-northeast, and settled down there with barely a scratch of his claws. Kygo whirled in place, eyes roaming the circle—could there be enough room for twelve large dragons?

The earth shuddered beneath their feet and the stone dragon swayed in place, Eona's wings spread wide as if the Dragon halfling were prepared to leap off should the statue actually fall—the queen dragon's red body burst into view high above their heads, and the Mirror Dragon looked down at them idly, her golden pearl gleaming, before taking her place at the eastern point, the male dragons moving aside just slightly to give her enough room.

A low growl scorched the air and the Snake Dragon became visible, gliding down to his east-southeast position. Copper claws passed directly over their heads as the Snake Dragon lightly dropped to the ground, folding his wings. With half the dragons already in place, the stone circle—once so big—was shrinking rapidly. Kygo's horse snorted somewhere, stamping its hooves against the ground, and he caught hold of the reins, hoping it wasn't about to run away. Dela and Ryko had dismounted, keeping a tight grip on their horses, and the halflings were clustered together beside the stone statue.

The orange Horse Dragon appeared on the earthly plane much closer to them than any of the others; Kygo swore that the beast's tail came within less than half a length of his face as the dragon swung around, making his way to the south-southeast compass point.

The silver Goat Dragon was the next to appear, wings fully extended as he circled above them for a moment before snapping his wings closed and landing on the south point of the circle, settling back on his haunches and offering a small roar, which set off the others into a cascade of growls and hisses, as if they were having some kind of conversation.

Amidst this cacophony of growls and roars, the black Monkey Dragon burst into their line of sight; he hovered for the briefest moment, appearing more like a shadow of a dragon, before wheeling in place and touching down upon the south-southwest corner of the circle, his claws raking small scratches into the stone.

Kygo gazed around the circle; nine dragons sat waiting. He could not recall a moment when the dragons had ever been truly visible to anyone who looked upon them—this was a moment for the history books; and seeing the dragons up close, he remembered that they could quite easily just swat one of the humans or halflings into a mountainside, and then that would be the last of it. _But they're here for the Spirit Dance_, he reminded himself. _They're here to help us save the land!_

The Rooster Dragon came into view above them, arcing down to the ground with a single beat of his wings. He landed neatly beside the Monkey Dragon at his position of west-southwest, folding his wings and arching his neck to study the group clustered at the center of the circle. His eyes passed over them all in a moment, however, and he followed the other dragons' gazes towards the sky.

The second-to-last dragon appeared in a rush of wind; the white Dog Dragon arrowed over their heads, wingtips almost brushing the circle, and took his place in the western position. He let out a soft roar, a light plume of fire grazing the air. The other dragons shifted, some grumbling quietly, but everything was still, as the last dragon came before them.

The gray Pig Dragon floated down almost leisurely from the sky, claws ringing against the stone circle as he took the last empty place between the Dog Dragon and the Rat Dragon, the compass point of west-northwest.

For a moment, all was quiet—even the sounds of the hunters' frantic voices, mostly blocked by the bulk of the dragons, faded into quiet. Kygo was no longer aware of the wind; the ashy clouds above seemed to grow still as well. It felt almost as if nothing should have been _breathing_.

Then, as one, the dragons tilted their heads back and roared, the sound echoing and growing until it seemed as if a great herd of dragons might descend from the sky. Bright flashes of all-colored fire lit the sky, streams of flames from each dragon joining high above the humans' and halflings' heads, sending a shower of sparks down upon them.

The colored fire was gone in the next breath, and Kygo blinked rapidly at how dark Xsu-Tou Pass had suddenly become. The Mirror Dragon lifted her head and crooned a soft song to the heavens, her pearl flashing gold. The male dragons shifted in place, claws raking at the stone, and Eona leaped from the back of the stone dragon, landing squarely on her feet. Once she was certain she had everyone's attention, the Dragon halfling lifted her head, spreading her hands wide as if she wished to encompass their entire group. Her voice was quiet, but Kygo had the idea that everyone still managed to hear her words:

_"It's time."_


	15. Dance of the Dragons

_Author's Note_: In which I finally get off my butt and write out this chapter, because I've been real lazy this whole summer. And I'm going to college, so I'm making the desperate attempt to finish this story before I get there! (Shouldn't be too hard, I'm telling myself, after all there's only one more chapter after this one)

Yes, that's right, _Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_ is almost over! This is the big chapter, of course, and the next (last) one is an epilogue; in that we'll figure out what exactly the Spirit Dance demands as payment (unless you can figure out what it takes at the end, and even if you don't, feel free to leave your guess!) plus tying up some loose ends (maybe)

I hope you enjoy this chapter, because it took me forever to actually think of how the Spirit Dance was going to work!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Fifteen: Dance of the Dragons_

_"It's time._"

Eona's voice echoed around the circle, even with the presence of the twelve great dragons. She watched Ryko, Dela, and Kygo move closer to the center, where the malevolent stone dragon sat guarding its bloodstained bowl; the remains of the cart that had carried most of the halflings across the land to this circle of stones in Xsu-Tou Pass lay in a heap beside the statue.

She glanced around, her wings nervously rustling at her back, studying the rest of the halflings. Their expressions ranged from nervous to afraid to, in some cases, aloof or arrogant. But in their eyes, she read the same desire—to save the Empire from its long, slow death.

Kygo had said the Spirit Dance would save the land. Eona wasn't sure what that would take from her and her halfling brethren; she remembered Jessam's speculation that the Spirit Dance would take their lives as payment for the return of the _Hua _of the land.

_The ultimate victory or the ultimate defeat._

Who was she to say which was which, if it indeed meant she and the eleven other halflings would sacrifice their lives to make the land anew? _No_, the Dragon halfling told herself, _the Spirit Dance shouldn't be able to kill us. The Mirror Dragon told me the dragons need us!_

_But there are always other halflings_, whispered a stray thought, as she followed the others in taking a place before the dragon they descended from. Eona looked up into the red dragon's great eyes, where she could see vestiges of immense golden _Hua_, greater than any one male dragon's. _You wouldn't make our lives payment, would you? _she silently asked the Mirror Dragon. That begged the question—if not their lives, then what sort of payment would the dragons exact?

The dragon queen offered no answer, shaking out her mane, her golden pearl flashing at her chin. She sat up on her haunches, great wings fanning out, sweeping over the backs of the two smaller male dragons on either side of her. Her roar quieted the other dragons' shifting claws and mumbled growls.

In the wake of the sudden silence, the Rat Dragon reared up, pearl flaring a bright azure blue, as the first dragon in the cycle of ascendance spread his wings and leapt into the sky, spiraling higher above the collection of dragons, casting a glowing ribbon of blue fire into the ashy air about him.

Eona watched the blue dragon, narrowing her eyes, delving into the mind-sight—even though the dragons were fully physical, she could not see the ethereal streams of _Hua _that ran throughout the earth without it—and froze involuntarily. The Rat Dragon's blue fire was pure, undiluted dragon's _Hua_, and the clouds that it touched seemed to lose their ashy gray color.

The roaring call of the blue dragon interrupted her thoughts, and she realized with a jolt that the beast was_ singing_. The blue dragon spun in the air, casting a last sapphire fireball right for the statue at the center of the circle. Eona caught sight of Kygo, Ryko, and Dela scrambling to reach safer ground further away, though they did not leave the perimeter of the circle—somewhat hard to do with giant dragons on all sides.

The stone dragon disappeared beneath a blaze of crackling blue; Eona saw the wavering shadow of the statue within the fire for a few moments before it melted away into nothingness, the dragon fire gone with it. There was only a smoking pile of ashes at the center of the  
>circle to show there had ever been anything there.<p>

The Dragon halfling guessed the statue personally offended the dragons, considering it had held halfling blood previously. She was not sorry to see it go—the wicked face of the stone dragon was rather frightening, especially when she considered it must have been the last sight for many a halfling…perhaps even another former Dragon halfling.

The Rat Dragon, his song finished, drifted back down to the circle, folding his wings neatly and landing in his place between the Pig Dragon and the Ox Dragon.

The purple dragon was the next to ascend to the sky, howling his own song, amethyst fire blazing across the sky. He, too, sent a blast of fire to the center of the circle, and this time Eona took the time to watch it impact, the mind-sight blurring the burst of _Hua _as it plunged into the earth, traveling outwards.

_Of course! _And now she understood—how else to heal the land, even with the _Hua _from the flames in the air, for surely that couldn't be enough!

The green Tiger Dragon was the next to launch himself into the sky, emerald flames spiraling outwards from his twisting form, growls echoing about the pass. His last flame crashed into the center of the stone circle, and Eona felt the earth lurch beneath her feet. _Could it be the land's rebirth already? _she thought to herself as the Tiger Dragon descended, and the Rabbit Dragon took his place in the air.

Ribbons of rose-hued flame rolled across the high mountain summits, and for an instant they appeared washed in the light of a brilliant sunrise. The pink dragon's song dwindled away into nothingness as his final burs of fire collided with the ashes, further warping the stone at the center. Eona gazed up at the Mirror Dragon; the red dragon made no move to rise into the sky and follow the actions of the other dragons. Instead, she stretched out her neck, golden pearl glittering brilliantly as her muzzle hovered over the charred stone. Tinges of golden flame flashed from between her teeth as she opened her mouth, breathing fire across the stone.

Eona stared in amazement at the burning _Hua _rippling through the earth, surging away from them and spiraling through the myriad of ley lines, setting them ablaze. The dragon queen's song rippled through the air as the fire died away, the Mirror Dragon withdrawing her head. Beside her, the Snake Dragon lofted into the air, coppery flame raking at the distant mountain peaks.

Copper scales flashed in brightening sunlight as the Snake Dragon descended once more, wavering song fading as his last burst of fiery _Hua_ touched down upon the center of the circle. The earth shuddered, and the Dragon halfling realized that they had reached the tipping point—half the dragons had offered their energy, their _Hua_, and now, as the orange Horse Dragon lunged into the sky—now, how could it be stopped?

_They, the halflings—much-despised by the humans—they would renew the land!_

Orange flames painted a sunset's colors across the snow covering the mountains' peaks. The orange dragon's song bounced around the circle, covering the shifting, scraping noises of the other dragons as they twitched in their places. And then the Horse Dragon was spiraling down out of the sky, sputtering flames of his _Hua _flicking into falling sparks at the center.

The Goat Dragon rose to his feet, wings unfurling as he moved to take his own turn in the air. Silver fire wove about the edges of the peaks, like an errant wind given true substance. The silver dragon turned from the sky, wings beating slowly as he touched back down upon the circle at his compass point, breathing a small tendril of flame upon the twisted rock at the center, blackened from the force of eight dragons' _Hua_.

Eona wondered if it could last through twelve dragons' fire; or if the ground would simply open up beneath their feet and send them falling into the depths of a chasm…and she was, after all, the only one with proper wings…

She forced her thoughts away from such a direction, suddenly worried that spending time with the more pessimistic of the halflings had made their more glum personalities rub off on her.

The Monkey Dragon was the next to rise; the darkest of the dragons did not spend as much time in the air, though he too sung a song that only the dragons were likely to understand; his fire, dancing black sparks, spiraled outwards and vanished beyond the pass's bordering mountains. The dark flames that slammed into the center of the circle were near-indistinguishable from the lump of melted rock.

As the Monkey Dragon returned to his place, the Rooster Dragon beside him shifted, lunging into the sky. The brown dragon's flames scattered across the sky, as if the earth had lifted up and was now plunging from the air as flaming raindrops. The stone circle trembled as the Rooster Dragon's final breath of fire collided with the center, the brown dragon himself neatly returning to his compass point, folding his wings as the second-to-last dragon perked up.

The Dog Dragon spread wide white wings, ascending into the sky at a rapid pace. The palest of the dragons blew soft flames as he spun quickly, sending the white fire spiraling out in a great whirlwind of a crackling blaze. The last strains of his song faded into silence as a burst of dragon's _Hua _struck the center. The earth quaked beneath their feet, and more than one halfling found themselves flailing to keep their balance.

Eona hunched her shoulders, resisting the urge to simply fly up. This was where she had to be, standing for the Mirror Dragon's descendant. The Spirit Dance was so close to completion, she knew it, as the Dog Dragon floated down to them and the last dragon, the Pig Dragon, flew upwards.

The gray dragon hovered a moment in the sky, quiet, before casting his fire closer to the ground than the others', though nowhere near like what the Mirror Dragon had chosen to do; beyond the dragons, scattered gray blazes flickered away into nothingness, and Eona half-wondered whether or not the hunters were still around, or if they had fled once the dragons closed the circle.

The Pig Dragon's song came to an end, his last fireball of _Hua _striking the center. The earth rumbled sharply before abruptly stilling, as the final dragon took up his place in the circle. Xsu-Tou Pass was silent—Eona could not hear the wind, which would usually be rushing through the mountain passes, or even those loose rocks high on the mountain slopes, teetering towards the brink. It was as if, for a long heartbeat, the world was still.

And then the dragons moved as one, arching their necks, twelve great maws opening wide, displaying wickedly sharp teeth, thick claws gouging into the stone circle, sending cracks rippling across the edge. Twelve streams of fire, each blazing with the color of the dragon's _Hua_, surged towards the center of the circle.

Eona moved forwards, distantly feeling the other halflings do the same; right above her, large and gleaming brilliantly, was the Mirror Dragon's pearl. She did not know _how _she knew what to do—just that she did, and slowly she lifted her hands, contemplating their smallness to the size of the red dragon's pearl.

And she reached up, catching a flash of golden _Hua _spiraling across her fingers as her hands neared the pearl; the Mirror Dragon made no move to stop her.

Eona's searching fingers brushed the leathery pearl, and her world became awash in golden light.

She could feel the Mirror Dragon above her, single-minded in her purpose, in her choice to save the land they had long ago chosen to protect. The burning spirits of the other dragons, she could see them too—not as bright as the red dragon, but still blazing pools of pure _Hua_.

She became aware of a sudden question looming in her mind, not exactly words, but something like them, tinged with the feeling of an ancient spirit.

_Would I give up everything I am?_

"Everything I am," she whispered aloud, momentarily puzzled by the phrasing. Certainly, the question had come from the Mirror Dragon—but what did the dragon queen mean?

_Would I give up everything I am?_

Somehow, she knew it wasn't her life the dragon was asking for.

She shut her eyes, feeling the spark of dragon's _Hua _within her that resonated with the might of the pearl clasped between her small palms. The question sounded for the third time within her mind, more urgent—_Would I give up everything I am?_

The Spirit Dance was to save the land.

_We will be honored. We will bring light to all future halflings…for who would dare despise someone who willingly saved their life?_

With this in mind, she opened her eyes once more, aware of the burning aura of golden _Hua _around her, surging from the pearl, through her, and back to the dragon again. She felt a small smile quirk the corners of her lips.

_Yes._

Golden fire roared through her, as if she, too, had suddenly become a dragon in her own right; her wings spread wide from her shoulders, stretching to their furthest extent, her tail lashing behind her, the weight of her horns suddenly nothing—

The array of gold receded from her vision, and she was left to fall into darkness, her last thought ringing in her own ears, magnified by the Mirror Dragon's power:

_We did it…_

The Spirit Dance was over.


	16. Epilogue: Preserve the Heart of a Dragon

_Author's Note_: This is it, everyone! This is the final chapter of _Half the Power, Twice the Spirit_! Thank you for staying with this story till the end, and it's been a long journey getting here, but we've finally made it! I decided to finish this before updating my second ongoing story, as I didn't have as much to fill out with this one. Please enjoy this last chapter, and again, thank you to all you readers, for reviewing, reading, alerting, and favoriting this story!

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><p>Half the Power, Twice the Spirit<p>

_Part Sixteen: Epilogue: Preserve the Heart of a Dragon_

Eona woke slowly, the wind rushing past the first sound audible to her ears. She opened gritty eyes, rubbing away stone dust and sat up carefully, squinting.

The great jewel-like colors of the dragons were gone; Eona guessed they had returned to the sky, and the intangible energy plane, once the Spirit Dance was over. She cast a cursory glance across the circle—the others were spread out, still in the process of waking. The center had a small, warped crater from all the dragons' fire; Eona narrowed her eyes and thought it might still be smoking, too. Great gashes lined the edge of the circle where the dragons had dug in their claws; cracks had spread from one crevice to the next, sending the outer edge crumbling into shattered rocks.

Beyond them, the mountains forming the walls of Xsu-Tou Pass were unmoving; the only noise the wind winding about the distant peaks. The sky above was a great and warm sunny blue; no longer did the clouds cover the heavens from horizon to horizon. The clouds themselves were not an ashy gray, either—now they were a more puffy shape and had a much whiter color.

Eona smiled faintly, rising slowly to her feet. _This is the world anew._

She looked around again and paused, feeling a small frown cross her face. Something didn't seem right… She shifted her weight and suddenly felt it—she couldn't feel the weight of her wings at her shoulders, or the familiar twisting of her tail helping balance her, or the pressure of her horns on her head.

She turned rapidly, her feet catching on each other and making her wobble sideways. She only saved herself from falling by throwing out her hands wildly. Carefully, cautiously, she lifted her hands to her head, fingertips brushing against the smooth contours of her hair. Her palms encountered no curling horns, not even nubs to have suggested that they were ever there.

"_Impossible_…"

She didn't realize she'd even spoken aloud until another voice spoke: "It happened."

Eona half-turned and met Chion's eyes; they no longer appeared quite so reptilian. The scales were missing from his face and arms. "They didn't want our lives," he said, tilting his head slightly. "They wanted our dragon power."

"But…" Eona shook her head slightly. "I didn't think a halfling could…_not_ be a halfling anymore."

"Most people didn't believe the land could be saved, either," Chion pointed out, stepping away again. "And yet…look what we have accomplished."

Eona looked around towards the others; they were rising to their feet, some marveling at the loss of their animal attributes, others more depressed.

She glanced at her hands before gazing into the sky; narrowing her eyes and watching the dragons slowly come into focus. They were arranged in their customary circle, their bright colors no longer seeming quite so contrasting against the brilliant blue sky. As she watched, the Mirror Dragon turned her head, spirit-eyes glittering, the golden pearl of _Hua _gleaming at her chin.

Eona stared up at the dragon queen's immense head, searching the Mirror Dragon's eyes for some sign. _Is this what you wanted? _she asked silently, trying to understand. _Is this what you wanted us to give for the land? _She strained her mind, but she could feel no link to the red dragon, nothing to ever show she had been once the Mirror Dragon's descendant.

_How can you go from being a halfling to being…normal?_

She turned her eyes from the dragons, focusing back on the world around her. The former halflings were clustering close to the edge, some clambering from the stone circle's broken edge and striding off into the mountains.

Eona stood still, treading closer to the smoking lump that had once been the stone dragon statue. She thought of its rust-colored bowl and the malicious eyes of the hunters, who with the rebirth of the Empire had to have no purpose now. She wondered idly what they might do with themselves, without the push to hunt down halflings.

She wondered what she would do, without the _Hua _of a dragon to guide her.

The former Dragon halfling walked slowly from the center of the circle, rejoining the others at the rim. She spared only one glance back, to the broken circle of stone and the mountain peaks ascending into the heavens above framing the sides of the pass.

_Xsu-Tou Pass…_

She would not forget this place. She would not forget the Spirit Dance, and what she and the others gave up so that their realm would not wither into nothingness.

She would _not_ forget.

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><p>Eona studied the sea. She had returned to the village, where her mother had waited for her still. Lillia had been surprised to see Eona's distinct lack of dragon attributes, but she had accepted the story, that Eona and her halfling brothers had saved the land with the offering of their own dragon's power. The villagers <em>had<em> to believe it, when the sky was clear and the fish roamed the coastal waters once more.

She hadn't heard much from the other former halflings, but she expected they were trying to adapt, just as she was. Kygo had promised to make it known that halflings had saved the land, but Eona wasn't so sure anything would change.

She dug her feet into the sand, picking up a small, almost clear shell by her hand. It tapered into a thin, curling spiral, reminding her of dragon's horns.

Eona set aside the shell, studying her shadow across the sand. It had been months, and yet she could still see the dragon's wings arcing from her shoulders, the coil of a tail lurking by her feet, the curling horns crowning her head.

She glanced up at the dragons high above, their bright colors undiminished. She would never forget the feeling of being a halfling, she knew that much. She rose to her feet, imagining a tail sweeping across the sand, and scuffed a trail into the dirt, digging out another little shell in the process.

Eona made her way up to the cliff, marveling at the bright carpet of grass that covered the top—nothing like the time she had come here months ago, when the grass had been sparse and scraggly, when she had first tried to fly.

She gazed up into the sky, standing still a long moment. The wind brushed past her and she took a step forwards, peering over the edge. Once she had leaped from here, spiraled on the winds and soared into the sky, flying with the dragons.

_Never again._

She stepped back to a safe distance, sighing quietly. The Empire was changing, that much she knew. How much that left for the halflings of the future, however, that she did not know. She turned, intending to make her way down from the cliff, and heard a small sound from the shelter of the trees.

Frowning, she shook her head, dismissing it, walking to the sandy trail. The sound came again, and she recognized it as a cry—the wail of a very young animal, perhaps.

She walked cautiously to the trees, eyes scanning the surroundings, but she saw nothing, until she stumbled into a patch of shrubbery and looked down.

There, lying in a makeshift basket, was a tiny baby, barely more than a month old. Eona knew what it was, even before she saw the little nubs on the child's head that would someday be horns. She could not see the other attributes that would make this certain—the baby was swaddled in a blanket—but she _knew_, all the same.

"Another little Dragon halfling," she murmured aloud, the baby growing quiet at the sound of her voice. Clearly, whatever Kygo had told people, sentiments towards halflings had improved only a little—the child must have been kept by its mother, for however short a time, before she had chosen to give it up to the elements.

Eona smiled slightly. The world was changing, she could feel it—perhaps _this_ little halfling child might have the chance to be praised and not feared. She lifted the basket, the young Dragon halfling staring at her silently through great, round eyes. Eona smiled wider, walking back down towards the village.

"I think…" she paused thoughtfully, giving the child another look.

"I think I shall call you _Kinra_."


End file.
